Table of Contents
Part I: Getting Ready
| The Executor’s Legal Companion | |
| • How This Book Can Help | |
1. Overview
| • What Executors Do | |
| • If You’ a Trustee | |
| • Your Legal Duty | |
| • Payment for Serving as an Executor | |
| • Dealing With Emotions—Yours and Your Relatives’ | |
2. If You’re Asked to Be an Executor
| • Should You Accept the Job? | |
| • Making the Job Manageable | |
Part II: First Steps
3. The First Week
| • Organ, Tissue, and Body Donation | |
| • Death Certificate and Medical Certification | |
| • Autopsy | |
| • Burial or Cremation | |
| • Funerals and Memorial Services | |
| • Other Tasks During the First Few Days | |
4. The First Month
| • Set Up a Filing System | |
| • Order Copies of the Death Certificate | |
| • Find the Will | |
| • Find Other Documents That Leave Property | |
| • Send Notifications of the Death | |
| • Keep Property Secure | |
| • Sort Through Personal Belongings | |
5. Claiming Life Insurance, Social Security, and Other Benefits
| • Life Insurance and Annuity Proceeds | |
| • Social Security Benefits | |
| • Pensions | |
| • Veterans Benefits | |
| • Wages Owed the Deceased Person | |
| • The Family Allowance and Other Allowances | |
| • Other Possible Benefits and Claims | |
Part III: Taking Care of the Estate
6. Making Sense of the Will
| • Does the Will Appear Valid? | |
| • Reading the Will | |
| • Gifts to Groups of People | |
| • Disinheritance | |
| • Events That Affect Who Inherits | |
7. If There’s No Will
| • Who’s in Charge | |
| • Who Gets What: The Basic Rules | |
| • Understanding Key Terms | |
| • If an Heir Has Died | |
| • Taking Care of Minor Children | |
8. Taking Inventory
| • Step 1. Look for Assets | |
| • Step 2. Make a List of Assets | |
| • Step 3. Estimate the Value | |
| • Step 4. Add Up Debts | |
| • Step 5. Determine How Title Was Held | |
9. Managing Assets and Paying Bills
| • Your Legal Duties | |
| • Keeping Good Records | |
| • Setting Up an Estate Bank Account | |
| • Managing Tangible Assets | |
| • Managing Cash Accounts and Investments | |
| • Digital Assets | |
| • Paying Claims and Debts | |
| • Giving Property to Beneficiaries | |
| • Selling Assets | |
| • Handling a Business | |
10. Caring for Children and Their Property
| • Immediate Concerns | |
| • Raising a Child | |
| • Managing a Child’s Property | |
| • Personal and Practical Issues | |
11. Taxes
| • Overview | |
| • The Deceased Person’s Income Tax Return: Form 1040 | |
| • The Estate’s Income Tax: Form 1041 | |
| • Income Tax on Trusts | |
| • Federal Estate Tax | |
| • State Inheritance and Estate Taxes | |
| • Other Taxes | |
| • Beneficiaries and Taxes | |
| • Typical Situations | |
Part IV: Transferring Property
12. Property That Doesn’t Go Through Probate
| • Common Assets That Don’t Go Through Probate | |
| • Joint Tenancy Property | |
| • Tenancy by the Entirety Property | |
| • Community Property | |
| • Property Held in a Living Trust | |
| • Real Estate That Qualifies as a Homestead | |
| • Property That Passes to Immediate Family by Law | |
| • Salary or Wages | |
| • Payable-on-Death Bank Accounts | |
| • Life Insurance Proceeds | |
| • Retirement Accounts | |
| • Health Savings Accounts | |
| • Securities Registered in Transfer-on-Death Form | |
| • Savings Bonds | |
| • Vehicles | |
| • Pension Plan Distributions and Other Death Benefits | |
| • Real Estate Left by a Transfer-on-Death Deed | |
| • Personal Property in “Small Estates” | |
13. Transferring Joint Tenancy and Other Survivorship Property
| • Real Estate | |
| • Bank Accounts | |
| • Securities | |
| • Vehicles | |
| • Savings Bonds | |
| • If Title Wasn’t Cleared When the First Joint Tenant Died | |
14. Transferring Community Property
| • Your Transfer Options | |
| • Survivorship Community Property | |
| • Community Property Agreements | |
| • State Probate Shortcuts | |
| • When the Second Spouse Dies | |
15. Claiming Money in Retirement Plans
| • Retirement Plans: The Basics | |
| • Who’s the Beneficiary? | |
| • If the Surviving Spouse Is the Beneficiary | |
| • Non-spouse Beneficiaries | |
| • Special Rules for Multiple Beneficiaries | |
| • If a Trust Is the Beneficiary | |
| • If There Is No “Designated Beneficiary” | |
| • If the Beneficiary Has Died | |
| • If No Beneficiary Was Named | |
| • If the Estate Is the Beneficiary | |
16. Claiming Payable-on-Death Assets
| • If the Asset Was Co-Owned | |
| • The Effect of Divorce on POD Beneficiaries | |
| • How Beneficiaries Can Claim Assets | |
17. Special Procedures for Small Estates
| • Are You Handling a Small Estate? | |
| • Claiming Property With Affidavits | |
| • Using Simplified Probate | |
18. The Regular Probate Process
| • Common Questions About Probate | |
| • The Typical Probate Process | |
| • The Process in Uniform Probate Code States | |
| • Probate in Another State | |
| • Disputes During Probate | |
| • Do You Need a Lawyer? | |
| • If You Go It Alone: Working With the Court | |
Part V: Handling Trusts
19. Wrapping Up a Simple Living Trust
| • How Simple Living Trusts Work | |
| • If You’re the Surviving Spouse | |
| • Who Serves as Successor Trustee | |
| • The Affidavit of Assumption of Duties | |
| • What’s in the Trust | |
| • Notifying Beneficiaries | |
| • Getting Valuable Property Appraised | |
| • Registering the Trust | |
| • Debts and Expenses | |
| • Transferring Trust Property | |
| • Ending the Trust | |
20. Managing a Child’s Trust
| • How a Child’s Trust Works | |
| • The Trustee’s Job | |
| • Accepting or Declining the Trustee’s Job | |
| • Gathering Trust Property | |
| • Keeping Beneficiaries Informed | |
| • Registering the Trust | |
| • Investing Trust Property | |
| • Keeping Good Records | |
| • Handling Trust Taxes | |
| • Distributing Property | |
| • If You Want to Resign | |
| • Ending the Trust | |
Part VI: Getting More Help
21. Finding More Information
| • Libraries | |
| • Online Resources | |
| • Finding Forms | |
| • Finding Definitions | |
| • Researching Specific Questions | |
22. Lawyers and Other Experts
| • When to Get Help | |
| • Deciding What You Want From a Lawyer | |
| • Finding a Lawyer | |
| • Choosing a Lawyer | |
| • Working With a Lawyer | |
| • Paying a Lawyer | |
| • Solving Problems With Your Lawyer | |
| Glossary | |
| Appendix A: State Information | |
| Appendix B: How to Use the Downloadable Forms on the Nolo Website | |
| • Editing RTFs | |
| • Forms Available on the Nolo Website | |
| Index | |
Course Details
Authors: Jennie Lin, Attorney; Mary Randolph, J.D.
Jennie Lin, Attorney · Harvard Law School
Jennie Lin is a former legal editor in estate planning at Nolo. She wrote for Nolo.com and other sites in the Nolo Network and edited a variety of Nolo books.
Legal career. Previously, Jennie was an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP in New York, where she worked in several practice areas before settling into international arbitration. She has also interned at a state attorney general's office, the Housing Law Clinic at the Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain, MA, and the Immigration and Refugee Clinic at Greater Boston Legal Services.
Education. Jennie holds a BA from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and is admitted to the New York State Bar.
Writing career. Jennie has also worked as a writer/editor for the last decade. She has written for companies and publications including Yahoo!, Kimpton Hotels, The New York Times, and NewYorker.com. She enjoyed working at Nolo in a rare position that allowed her to utilize her expertise in both law and writing daily. She found it especially rewarding to work in estate planning—an area of law that applies to pretty much everyone—and to help make the legal system just a touch more approachable.
Mary Randolph, J.D. · UC Berkeley School of Law
Mary Randolph earned her law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law. She is the author of The Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust, 8 Ways to Avoid Probate, and other books about law for nonlawyers. She has been a guest on The Today Show and has been interviewed by many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
Publication/Revision Date: 11/5/2024
Course Exam Questions (online): 55 (multiple-choice)
Program Delivery Method: Self-Study
Available Formats of Course Text: Hardcopy (paperback) book sent in the mail or eBook purchased separately from the publisher
Course Level, Prerequisites, and Advance Preparation Requirements
| License | Course Level | Prerequisites | Advance Preparation Requirements |
|---|
| CFP® | Overview | None | None |
* This program is appropriate for professionals at all organizational levels.
Sponsor ID Numbers
CFP Board Sponsor ID: 1008 — Course ID: 245564
Learning Objectives
As a result of studying the course material, you should be able to meet the objectives listed below:
- Understand the steps in preparing for the role of executor or trustee
- Recognize the process for claiming life insurance, Social Security, and other benefits
- Recall the key components of a will
- Discern what to do if there is no will
- Determine whether probate is necessary
- Understand tax implications with respect to estates
- Recall probate court proceedings
- Understand family member-related issues
- Recall the key aspects of simple trusts
- Recognize the considerations for working with lawyers, appraisers, accountants and other experts
- Differentiate between state-specific laws
