When to close an estate

[flygirl]

I haven’t gotten a clear answer from the attorney yet, but if you’ve handled an estate can you share what the process was to close the estate?  I just filed the estate tax return and am waiting for the refund which I’m assuming will take 8-10 weeks but what happens after that if everything is done/paid for?  Do I have to wait a certain time after the tax filing?

[minzy]

I am going through this now as executor of my aunt’s estate. Ohio requires an estate be open at least six months from the date of death, so I would start with seeing what the state requirement is. It has to stay open to give any creditors a reasonable opportunity to appear. Once I received my (out-of-state) letters of appointment, and we filed the listing of assets, and they were approved, I had the official legal authority to dispose of property. So I sold the house (and got off all the utilities) and transferred title on the car (which I had to do in person earlier this week, what a pain). The whole family agreed to keep the jewelry (mostly costume) out of the estate, but I’m disbursing/distributing that as well amongst ourselves. Some refunds are still trickling in but I think everything will be complete shortly and we’ll just have to wait. It is my hope that we will be able to close through the probate attorney/probate court as close to six months after the date of death as possible.

ETA we filed her 2022 tax return and since she lived a few days into 2023 we will have to do that one too. But my husband and I will prepare it (“for free”) and she wouldn’t have owed anything anyway, so that won’t be a new cost. I can’t remember if it was the bank rep or paralegal we’ve been working with who advised keeping the probate checking account open with a small amount until I file the 2023 taxes, but again I don’t think money will be changing hands, so I plan to drain it to pay the beneficiaries ASAP.

[pierogigirl]

I was the executor for my father and his simple estate took about 18 mos. NY requires it to be open for 7 months. It was a court filing that closed the estate. We kept the checking account open for a few years after, but when my brother died, I closed it.

I'm currently the executor of my brother's much more complicated estate. It's been a year and I have sold all property and paid all debts. The estate taxes will be done by August. Then I have to set up a trust for the next 17-ish years. Hopefully, the trust will not require me to do anything once it's set up.

[tacokick]

I filed for an expedited one for my mom because she didn’t have debts and my dad was on almost everything so it was pretty easy. It took about 6 months and needed judge approval to do it that quickly. Six is the absolute bare minimum. Normally it takes about 12.

She died in the summer so I was able to do her final taxes and the estate taxes in the six month window. I didn’t pay anyone out until it closed but you don’t actually have to wait.

ETA and the governmental office marks it closed so I just turned in all the paper work when I was done and then kept refreshing the estate search page until it said it was completed. They also sent me a letter in the mail saying it was closed. Like I couldn’t decide it was closed on my own, the court had to do their end.

Does that make sense? I’m overtired.

[flygirl]

flygirl,minzy,pierogigirl,tacokick, Do you have to keep money in the estate account just in case the taxes get audited and owe more? I just don’t want to disperse the money and then end up paying something out of my own pocket.

[tacokick]

Jun 9, 2023 19:54:59 GMT -5 flygirl said:

flygirl,minzy,pierogigirl,tacokick, Do you have to keep money in the estate account just in case the taxes get audited and owe more? I just don’t want to disperse the money and then end up paying something out of my own pocket.

You don’t have to but I did. Not much though.

[Wallflower]

I'm curious - Are you all working with a will and it takes all of this, or are these instances without a will?

I'm anticipating that I'll be the one handling my mother's estate, when the time comes, and it's kind of eye opening how much work is involved! Mom has a will and most of her accounts are "transfer on death," but there is a house we'll have to sell.

[formerlyak]

Jun 12, 2023 7:42:28 GMT -5 Wallflower said:

I'm curious - Are you all working with a will and it takes all of this, or are these instances without a will?

I'm anticipating that I'll be the one handling my mother's estate, when the time comes, and it's kind of eye opening how much work is involved! Mom has a will and most of her accounts are "transfer on death," but there is a house we'll have to sell.

My dad died in October and my brother died in December. Dad had a Will. Brother did not. With a Will and a trust, everything just transferred to the beneficiary (in this case my mom). It took a while for us to notify all the banks and the mortgage and all that, but it was a fairly easy process.

My brother died unexpectedly and didn’t have a Will. We had to open probate and have my mom assigned as the administrator to do anything. The first few months waiting for that to happen were stressful. Luckily my brother had enough in his accounts to keep everything on auto pay so the mortgage and bills didn’t default. And he wasn’t a good password creator so I was able to get into his accounts to make sure things were paid and eventually notify them all of the death. Once we got the letters of admin naming my mom administrator, things like selling the house were pretty easy.

[flygirl]

Wallflower, the one I’m working on had a will so at least the disbursements and transfers of property were pretty easy. But once I disburse all the remaining cash, I won’t be able to get it back & just worried about tax stuff even though it was all done by a CPA