Follow
Share

I am a only child. My mom passed away years ago and my dad passed away last month. Now his house, land, bank accounts needs to go through probate.


I was his POA beforehand. Now I have been appointed as executor of the estate by the county court.


The court gave me a list of things to do the first being a inventory of the estate.


Why do they want to know how many chairs, couches, coffee makers, vehicles and even lawn equipment he has?


I don't see why it matters as I was listed in his will to get the house and land. My name was not on the house or land.


When I read about probate it says it is done so that property is transferred, paying off debts and distributing any remaining assets in accordance with an estate plan.


I am a only child and there is no other family, there is nothing to transfer or distribute and his will stated I get everything.


Do they want the estate inventory to tax me on it at a later time? I already had to give them a inventory to pay the probate fees.


He was very good with money so he does not have any outstanding bills.


I am going to ask a lawyer if I need to go through all this.


I'm only 40 and too young for this. :(

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
https://www.justia.com/estate-planning/the-duties-of-an-executor/taking-inventory/#:~:text=Probate%20requires%20filing%20a%20formal,need%20to%20go%20through%20probate.&text=A%20detailed%20inventory%20will%20help,qualifies%20for%20simplified%20probate%20procedures.

"Assets" are not what they have in mind. Stocks, CDs, real estate, vehicles are "assets". The "stuff" is personal property and can me listed/lumped under that category. At least that's what we did. I am not a lawyer.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Your idea of the Lawyer is GREAT. Just get through it. There is no major hurry, but when there is no will and no Trust this is the way of it. Just slowly go through it. When I settled the Trust and Estate for my brother I required only 1 1/2 hours of time with the Lawyer, but having here there for questions was wonderful. I wish you luck. You can do this, and in the end you will be able to guide others; you will learn so much.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

I was the Independent Administrator for my aunts estate. She had long ago put my name on her bank accounts, so that I could write checks on her account while she was ill, so those didnt have to go through probate, so I cant speak to that part. But as far as the rest goes, I established a checking account un the name of " the esate if so and so" because you will get checks after death in that way, ie rebates from closed accounts, or utilities.
The inventory was very broad. We did household furnishings, appliances, musc houshold goods and clothes. She didnt have any land property And just eyeballed the value if I were to sell secondhand or garage sale. I was told to be vague as court records were publicly searchable and would be safer.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
mikea6 Jun 2021
Why do they need a inventory in my case there is nothing to get divided up as the will says it all goes to me and there is no other family left.

I'm guessing it's all so they can tax me on what i report.

Didn't know that about that being public. Thanks for the tip!

What do i do about his power bill? Do i put it in my name or just pay for it with the estate checking account.

No one is living at the house but power is always going to be needed. His other accounts have been closed already.
(2)
Report
I would ask Probate. As an only child and a Will in place I don't see why you need to inventory everything either. You may want to get a lawyer involved. Makes things a lot easier.
Helpful Answer (4)
Report
mikea6 Jun 2021
finally someone that agrees with me!

I will be asking a lawyer.
(2)
Report
When the CPA did my dad's estate tax return, he said the standard for the "stuff" in the house is about $10k. My folks' things are worth significantly more than that, but that's what we went with.

Your dad has an $11 million exemption for his estate, so I doubt you'll be paying any taxes.

This is why you make a trust, not merely a will. All of this probate mess could have been avoided with a trust.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
mikea6 Jun 2021
Yes no where close to $11 million.

I'm guessing that dad didn't think it would go through probate since he had a will and it says i would get all the estate.

I blame his lawyer that made up the will he should have know what would happen.

I still don't see why i need to go through probate as a only child and with his will stating that i get everything.
(1)
Report
See 1 more reply
I'm an only and was listed as sole beneficiary to everything. Thankfully his home was already sold. My name was on his accounts and I was the beneficiary of his annuity. I was the executor of the will. Still had to go through probate and set up an estate account with the bank. It still took several months to settle things. I can't imagine how long it will take to sell a house and settle all of that. It has been nearly a year and I still have the estate account open just waiting to make sure there are no lingering IRS issues. I was so frustrated at how much work dealing with this was and how complicated everything had to be.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report

Hello
here in the UK when someone dies, regardless of whether they left a will or not, the administrator/executor must complete an Inheritance Tax Form that asks about every little thing about the deceased, including items of furniture and equipment in their property,
once submitted they then decide how much of the total value of Assets they want paid in Tax.

it sounds like thats what ur talking about!

crazy - everything the deceased had had been taxed at some point but governments do it again for their own benefit.

in UK think total value of estate is taxed once it totals £300,000 anything less than that total value, think they write to say no tax is due but the form must be completed for government office to decide.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

mikea6, first my heartfelt sympathy to you and your family.

Probate can vary from State to State, County to County. My Dad had a Revocable Trust/Will and a half dozen other legal documents drawn up by his Elder Law Attorney. Because Dad forgot to add some assets to his Trust, the estate needed to go through Probate. I also am an only child so it would be on my doorstep anyway.

Probate was so complex that I had my Dad's attorney do all of the work, and charged the estate. Fill out this, fill out that. Inventory as of such and such date. Rinse. Repeat. For me, it took two years before the Probate ended [County was backlogged as we were in a large metro area].... in the mean time I still needed to pay IRS taxes on the estate until the Probate was finalized.

After everything was done, I tossed all the paperwork into a box and never looked back.
Helpful Answer (4)
Report

Mike, there's probably another reason why Probate is required:   give any creditors the time to file claims.   There could always be creditors of which the survivors are unaware.

The same procedure was required for foreclosure litigation, at least when I worked on those kinds of lawsuits.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
mikea6 Jun 2021
Dad made a lot of money so i highly doubt any would make a claim. He always paid up-front no loans. If he couldn't pay for it he simply did not buy it.

But i see what you are saying the court does not know that.

Which still leads me to wonder why they need a inventory of house furniture etc if they can't tax me on it since it's not over $11 million.
(2)
Report
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter