When Would Need a Personal Representative?
Here is an example of why you need a Personal Representative: You set up your Trust today, and transfer all of your assets into it. Then ten years down the road, you completely forget you have a Trust and purchase a home in your personal name. You then pass away with that home in your personal name. The home would be a “probate asset.” This means that your Personal Representative/Executor would need to likely hire an attorney to open a probate with the court and get that asset transferred over to your Trust.
We hope a Personal Representative will never be called on to act because all of your assets would either be titled in the name of your Trust or have a beneficiary designation on them prior to your passing. However, we know that life happens, so we ask you to appoint a Personal Representative – just in case.
If you have a Trust, you should also have something called a “Pour-Over Will” which is a document that states that any assets left outside of your Trust, were meant to go to your Trust, and therefore should be transferred to your Trust.
What Does a Personal Representative Do?
The job of the executor or personal representative, depending on what state we’re in, is to only follow the written instructions that are in a will. And that’s done through the probate process, and a court oversees it. A court has to appoint that personal representative and ensure they follow the terms of the will.
An executor can’t change the will.
The personal representative in the family has to attend multiple hearings, and that occurs in the state where the client passed away.
Lets Set up a Personal Representative
Now that you know what a personal representative is, contact an estate planning attorney to get the process started and see how your personal representative applies to the larger picture of your estate plan. If you’re unsure whether you need a executor or successor trustee, we can help with that.
