What Does a Personal Representative Do?
Were you named as someone’s Personal Representative? Not quite sure what that means or what you’re supposed to do? Well, you’ve come to the right place! We’ll be going over what exactly the Personal Representative does during the probate administration of someone’s estate. Read on to find out!
When someone passes away, their estate will be distributed through a legal process called “probate.” Click HERE to learn more about the probate process. The Personal Representative is usually named in that person’s Last Will and Testament. If that person didn’t leave a Last Will and Testament, then the court will appoint an Administrator. Even though they have different titles, the Personal Representative or the Administrator are responsible for doing the same things, and may sometimes also be referred to as the Executor.
The Personal Representative can be an individual person or an institution, such as a bank, and is responsible for administering the estate of the decedent. The “decedent” is the legal term for the person who has passed away. The Personal Representative has a “fiduciary duty” to the decedent’s estate. A fiduciary duty is just a fancy way of saying that the Personal Representative is obligated to act in the best interest of the decedent’s estate. This means that the Personal Representative is in charge of settling the decedent’s estate. If the decedent left a Last Will and Testament, then the Personal Representative must settle the decedent’s estate in accordance with the directions contained within.
In order to settle the estate, the Personal Representative is responsible for doing a number of things. We’ve briefly outlined some of the most important responsibilities below:
Open the Probate
Probate of the decedent’s estate begins when a Petition for Probate is filed with the court. The court will also issue something called “Letters Testamentary” (or if no Last Will and Testament was left, “Letters of Administration”) to the Personal Representative, which is a legal document that authorizes them to begin administering the estate.
Identify the Estate’s Assets
Assets of the estate are generally anything that was owned by the decedent when they passed. This includes real property, such as land or mineral rights; personal property, such as a boat or jewelry; and cash, such as a bank account. Certain assets may be excluded from probate, such as assets that were owned jointly or assets that have transfer on death designations.
Provide Notice to Creditors
The Personal Representative is required to give notice of the decedent’s death to any creditors, whether known or unknown, so that the creditors may submit their claims against the estate. Once the time for creditors to submit their claims has expired, they are barred from making any claims against the estate.
Pay Creditor Claims and Taxes
The payments of creditor claims are made by the Personal Representative using assets from the estate. The Personal Representative may also reject creditor claims if they are found to be invalid. The state of Oklahoma has no estate taxes. Federal taxes may be owed depending on the size of the estate, but are rarely owed for standard probates.
Distribute the Estate’s Assets
Once all creditor claims and if necessary, federal estate taxes, are paid, the Personal Representative will distribute the assets in the estate as outlined in the decedent’s Last Will and Testament. If no Last Will and Testament was left, then Oklahoma law will govern how the estate is distributed using intestacy statutes. Click HERE to learn more about how these intestacy statutes work in Oklahoma.
Close the Probate
Once all assets have been distributed, the Personal Representative will attend a Final Hearing with the court, where the court will approve the Final Order for the probate. Once this Final Order is approved, the probate is closed and the Personal Representative’s responsibilities to the estate end.
This list is by no means a comprehensive list of all the Personal Representative’s responsibilities. Being named as the Personal Representative carries additional responsibilities depending on the unique circumstances of each probate. Our attorneys effectively handle probate cases across the State of Oklahoma and are here to help you with these responsibilities. Contact us today to see what we can do for you.