How Acting as the Personal Representative of a Deceased Person’s Estate Is a Lot Like Running a Business

If you believe the myriad YouTube channels devoted to the subject, entrepreneurship resembles a hero’s quest, and the key to success is personal charisma. By contrast, no one would describe acting as the personal representative of a deceased person’s estate that way. In entrepreneurship, the goal is to go big, to sell your company for a fortune, or to get it publicly traded on the stock exchange. In a probate case, the best-case scenario is an uneventful probate, where the beneficiaries of the decedent’s will come away with most of the money that the decedent left for them. The worst-case scenario is that the estate is financially insolvent, and the heirs inherit nothing. Furthermore, most of the outcome of a probate case is beyond the control of the personal representative. Despite this, acting as the personal representative of a deceased person’s estate is more like operating a business than you might originally imagine. If a deceased relative listed you as personal representative of his or her estate, but you lack business experience, contact a Bronx probate attorney.

The Estate Is Its Own Legal Entity

A deceased person’s estate is not a zombie that continues to wrap up the decedent’s unfinished business after the decedent is gone. Instead, it is its own legal entity, much like a business or nonprofit organization. This means that it has its own taxpayer ID number; one of your first duties after the court appoints you as personal representative is to apply for a taxpayer ID number for the estate. Once you have the taxpayer ID, you must open a bank account for the estate. Any income still owed to the decedent will go into this bank account. This includes outstanding payments that the decedent’s employer or tenants owed or the settlement from a lawsuit that was still pending when the decedent died, among other sources of income. You must also pay the estate’s taxes and debts from this account.  When the estate settles, you close its bank account and distribute the money to the heirs.

Knowing When You Need to Hire Someone to Help You Do a Professional Job

The most successful entrepreneurs know when they need to hire someone else to help them with certain aspects of the work. The same principle applies during probate. As the personal representative of a deceased person’s estate, you always have the right to hire a probate lawyer to represent you in court and assist you in your duties. This is true whether the decedent’s will listed you as personal representative, or whether the decedent died intestate and you took on the role of personal representative of your own initiative.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

A probate lawyer can help you cope with your duties as the personal representative of the estate of a deceased person, including the routine and mundane duties.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

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