![]() Typically, this involves sending a short letter identifying yourself and enclosing a copy of the Court’s published Notice. Once known and potential creditors are identified, you will need to provide notice of the probate estate to such creditors. You will have to conduct a reasonable search for creditors generally, it is good practice to obtain credit reports on the deceased, review financial records, and look at the deceased’s mail in order to identify creditors. Under Tennessee law, a personal representative/executor’s duties include identifying known and potential creditors of the decedent and/or the estate. The Court clerk will send a copy of this notice to you. This notice is generally via publication in a local newspaper and will contain the date the estate opened and the name of the personal representative/executor. Within 30 days of the issuance of Letters Testamentary/Letters of Administration, the Court clerk will provide public notice of the opening of the estate. Alternatively, all of the decedent’s heirs may specifically waive the requirement in a written statement to the Court. Please note, the requirement of Inventory can be excused by the decedent’s Will. Notice must also be sent to the heirs receiving bequests and the heirs sharing in the estate’s residue. You will have to verify the Inventory with a signed Oath stating that the information is complete and accurate. You may also want to consider including an appraisal of each item in the Inventory. The Inventory will be a complete and accurate list of the estate’s assets, including notes and other evidences of debts due the estate assets subject to liens or other pledge of security and intangible property. Within 60 days of your appointment as Personal Representative/Executor, you will have to file an Inventory of the estate’s assets with the Court. The responsibilities of a personal representative/executor include, but are not limited to, the requirements of inventory and notice to creditors. Select Duties and Required Filings of a Personal Representative/Executor In fact, when the personal representative/executor is first appointed, he/she will sign an oath swearing that he/she will properly perform the duties to the best of his/her responsibility. This includes not paying taxes and filing returns on time missing other estate administration deadlines favoring one beneficiary over another loss of assets, etc. Various fiduciary duties and responsibilities are involved, and the personal representative/executor can be held personally liable for errors or mismanagement of the estate. A personal representative/executor is considered a fiduciary, a person who holds a legal or ethical relationship of trust with a person or group of persons. Serving as personal representative/executor can be a big undertaking. In an intestate estate, they are called Letters of Administration. In a testate estate, these documents are called Letters Testamentary. This order of preference is as follows (if the person is willing and able to serve): (i) the spouse (ii) next-of-kin (if there is more than one next-of-kin who petition to be appointed, the Court will decide who shall serve) and, if no such next-of-kin, a creditor of the estate who proves a legitimate debt may serve.Īfter the personal representative/executor is appointed by the Court, Letters will be issued to this person these Letters evidence the person’s authority to handle the affairs of the deceased person’s estate. In the case of intestacy, Tennessee law establishes a priority of who can serve as personal representative. In an intestate estate (where the deceased person died without a Will), the Court will appoint a personal representative to administer the estate. In a testate estate (where the deceased person left a Will), the deceased person typically will have named his/her executor in the Will. The estate administration process includes, for example, taking care of property, paying bills and taxes, “winding up” the deceased’s financial affairs, and ensuring that the heirs receive their proper inheritance. During the probate process, a person(s) (individual(s) and/or institution(s)) must be responsible for the administration of the estate. Code Ann.Probate is a court-supervised process to transfer property from a deceased person’s estate to the individuals and/or institutions legally entitled to receive such property (the “heirs” or “beneficiaries” of the estate).
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