How to administer a deceased estate
Please feel free to print this Manual so that you can refer to it.
Take time to grieve
When someone close dies it is hard to understand and come to grips with the loss.
Expressing your feelings and taking time to grieve helps ease the pain.
As executor or next of kin sometimes the responsibilities may seem too great. Don't despair - it is not usually difficult to administer an estate yourself. Most people administer estates themselves in Australia.
This Manual is a general guide only. While administering estates is not difficult there are pitfalls.
- Capital Gains Tax
Capital Gains Tax and other "death taxes" can be unnecessarily high - especially on the family home if proper precautions are not taken by you while administering the estate. Seek advice from your lawyer.
- Probate & Letters of Administration
Obtaining Probate is a technical legal process. Mistakes are expensive to rectify. Get a written quote from a lawyer for Probate.
Don't waste your time and money by trying to do Probate yourself. You start and then find "requisitions" from the Supreme Court Probate Office. Your lawyer then charges you more to fix up the errors and start all over again.
- Real Estate
If Title Deeds are not correctly lodged at the Office of Titles you may be forced to pay additional stamp duty and penalty fees. Get a quote from a lawyer to transfer real estate.
What do I have to do promptly?
It is difficult to make important decisions at a time of personal distress. Fortunately only a few things need to be done in the first couple of weeks after the death. These are:
- Your Funeral Director
The funeral ceremony is very important as it helps people accept the reality of death.
Check the deceased’s records to see if there are funeral plans or instructions. It is a good idea to pre-pay funerals and this happens quite often.
The funeral cost is considerable. This is understandable given the huge amount of work in conducting a funeral. The Funeral Director does much of the hard work for you.
You need to pay the funeral costs straight away. Banks generally release the Funeral costs from the deceased’s bank account. If you have problems with the bank releasing money to pay for the Funeral please phone and we will speak to the bank at no charge.
- Protect assets
Protect the assets and take possession of them where possible. Check that the car, home and other assets are insured. If something happens to them you may be personally liable.
- Take time to grieve
There is generally nothing further you can do as executor until you get the Registration of Death (often incorrectly referred to as a Death Certificate).
The Registration of Death is official proof of the death. The deceased’s doctor signs the required forms. The forms are then lodged with the Registrar General’s office. It takes about 3 weeks for the funeral director to arrange and then give you the Registration of Death.
Protect yourself and the family by getting a Peace of Mind Checkup:
For $440 you get:
1. One hour with one of our Probate lawyers
2.
A Checklist of what you need to do3. A comprehensive Manual that dovetails in with the Checklist.
To book in ring Brett Davies Lawyers 08 9325 7999 and asked to be booked in on a Peace of Mind Check up.
Practical Issues
For More Information see Estate Planning, Cascading Power of Attorney, Post
Testamentary Trusts, Business Succession Planning or
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