Executors have to complete various tasks when the person whose estate they will administer dies. One of the principal tasks, and one on which other tasks depend, is drawing up a list of all the deceased’s assets and debts.
Failing to locate everything could cause complications for them and the beneficiaries. Here are some of the ways they can use to track these assets and debts down.
Read the estate plan
Some people make very comprehensive estate plans that include a list of every last thing they own or owe and where they are to be found. Others are far less thorough, but even these people may mention numerous items in their will or any other estate planning documents they create.
Ask others
Executors should feel free to ask others to help with certain tasks, including understanding the breadth of the deceased’s estate. A surviving spouse is likely to be a big help, and adult children often are too. Even then, there may be things they never knew about. Close friends or business colleagues of the deceased may have been privy to such information, and so too may financial advisors or legal representatives.
Search through the paperwork
People often keep files full of account statements or at least have a drawer where they stuff them. It might not be in their house, though. It might be at work, or in their home office or in a box in the garage, if they have one. Other people keep meticulous records on their computer or in the cloud, and a court can help an executor to get access if needed.
Public records
Checking land registries might help turn up a property investment. Even searching someone’s name in Google can sometimes give clues to assets, such as if the person’s name shows up as the part-owner of a particular business or the composer of a song.
While executors are tasked with executing the estate, they are not expected to do it all themselves. The important thing is to do the job accurately and efficiently. Legal guidance, paid for by the estate, can be wise.