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Estate question in Maryland
My mother-in-law recently passed-away. My wife (who is deceased) is
named in the will as personal representative and listed in the living
trust as trustee. My mother-in-law told me that since I am the
husband of the designated personal representative / trustee, I would
automatically take over these roles and that the legal documents
didn't have to be modified.
My mother-in-law didn't have any debt (other than taxes, possibly).
All of her assets were either
1)Listed in her living trust
2)jointly owned by me
or
3)my children were listed as beneficiaries.
Since there are no contested assets, do I have to open an estate or go
through the probate process? If I don't open an estate and become the
personal representative, will I still be able to submit her tax
returns? When she was alive, I had power of attorney, but that ceased
with her death.
Thanks,
Alan
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On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 17:31:57 -0500, alanfaber@yahoo.com (Alan) wrote:
Estate question in Maryland
My mother-in-law recently passed-away. My wife (who is deceased) is
named in the will as personal representative and listed in the living
trust as trustee. My mother-in-law told me that since I am the
husband of the designated personal representative / trustee, I would
automatically take over these roles and that the legal documents
didn't have to be modified.
Not true.
If no successor trustee is named in the agreement of trust, you may
have to go to court to have a successor appointed.
My mother-in-law didn't have any debt (other than taxes, possibly).
All of her assets were either
1)Listed in her living trust
2)jointly owned by me
or
3)my children were listed as beneficiaries.
Since there are no contested assets, do I have to open an estate or go
through the probate process?
There are sometimes advantages to probating a will, such as notice to
creditors in order to limit the statute of limitations for claims
against the estate.
However, my usual attitude is not to probate a will unless there are
assets in the name of the decedent that cannot be administered or
disposed of without probate.
If I don't open an estate and become the
personal representative, will I still be able to submit her tax
returns? When she was alive, I had power of attorney, but that ceased
with her death.
The IRS is fairly liberal about who can file a final income tax
return. See Publication 559, "Survivors, Executors, and
Administrators," which can be downloaded from www.irs.gov
**Dan Evans
**I post information, not advice.
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Alan:
I practice estate law in Maryland.
My mother-in-law recently passed-away. My wife (who is deceased) is
named in the will as personal representative and listed in the living
trust as trustee. My mother-in-law told me that since I am the
husband of the designated personal representative / trustee, I would
automatically take over these roles and that the legal documents
didn't have to be modified.
This is incorrect. Unless you are named in the documents or authorized by
the Court, you have no legal standing with regard to these matters at all.
My mother-in-law didn't have any debt (other than taxes, possibly).
All of her assets were either
1) Listed in her living trust
2) jointly owned by me
or
3) my children were listed as beneficiaries.
Since there are no contested assets, do I have to open an estate or go
through the probate process? If I don't open an estate and become the
personal representative, will I still be able to submit her tax
returns? When she was alive, I had power of attorney, but that ceased
with her death.
For the items listed in (1) and (2), you do not need to open an estate. For
those items in your MIL's individual name, regardless of who the
beneficiaries are, you will need to open an estate.
If I can be of assistance, please feel free to e-mail me off the board at
lawyer@erols.com.
--
Brett
*****************************************************************
* Personal Injury/Malpractice Bankruptcy *
* *
* BRETT WEISS, P.C. *
* Attorneys at Law *
* Maryland, D.C. and Federal Bars *
* lawyer@erols.com *
* http://www.erols.com/lawyer *
*
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Estate question in Maryland
My mother-in-law recently passed-away. My wife (who is deceased) is
named in the will as personal representative and listed in the living
trust as trustee. My mother-in-law told me that since I am the
husband of the designated personal representative / trustee, I would
automatically take over these roles and that the legal documents
didn't have to be modified.
My mother-in-law didn't have any debt (other than taxes, possibly).
All of her assets were either
1)Listed in her living trust
2)jointly owned by me
or
3)my children were listed as beneficiaries.
Since there are no contested assets, do I have to open an estate or go
through the probate process? If I don't open an estate and become the
personal representative, will I still be able to submit her tax
returns? When she was alive, I had power of attorney, but that ceased
with her death.
Thanks,
Alan
Maryland has simplified probate for small estates; see the state's
informative Register of Wills Web site at
http://www.registers.state.md.us for lots of documents, including a
summary of the small estates procedure.
My guess, and I'm not a lawyer, is that you don't rank high on the
priorities for personal representative -- whoever is named residuary
legatee, or blood relatives with a stake in the estate, if there are
any, outrank you. The rules are at Maryland Code, Estates and Trusts,
sections 5-104 and 5-105.
You need to be P.R. to file her tax returns, and it won't happen
unless you file for it. If there are other legatees, you may have to
get together and agree on who should be P.R., then get the probate
court to issue letters.
--
Not a lawyer,
Chris Green
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