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practical tips in administering deceased estates in Australia

  • 12 月 8, 2024

Home » 澳洲法律解读 » 遗嘱 » practical tips in administering deceased estates in Australia

Proper organisation of deceased administration

It is important to have an organised system and a plan to administer the estate. Many executors are inexperienced with administering deceased estate matters. There are a few things that can be done to simplify the process:

    1. Having a folder containing correspondences. 
    2. Having a folder for important documents which are relied on regularly in administering the estate and a note of where the documents are if they are removed.
    3. To maintain a photocopy of key documents which are kept separately in case you misplace your folders.
    4. Have an index of the key steps taken in the deceased estate administration process so that third parties who may need to assist can understand the current situation and future work involved to liquidate and distribute assets.
    5. Minor assets may be forgotten and should be dealt with.
    6. Debts should be listed in the index as they must be dealt with.
    7. Records should be kept of each assets’ stage of the administration. Dates of the grant sent and timeframes advised by third parties can be written down.
    8. Have an order of the assets being dealt and identify issues with each asset. For example, real property will need to be transferred through a lawyer and it might be sold. This can take 1-6 months. The timeframes should be communicated to the beneficiaries to avoid complaints in future. 

    Estate assets to obtain

    1. A motor vehicle can be transferred without probate.
    2. Real property owned as joint tenants can be dealt with by lodging a survivorship application. A discharge of mortgage and transmission application may be required. 
    3. Money which is not earning interest should be dealt with quickly. For example, life policy payments can be liquidated and put into an interest bearing account. A full death certificate can be ordered and and a coroner’s interim certificate can be offered to obtain an early payment of policy. Conversely, it is best to leave the assets that are earning above market interest rates to the last to be distributed. 
    4. Which assets require urgent distribution. This will usually be the deceased’s real properties.
    5. Debts should be dealt with as soon as possible. Creditors need to be advised about the deceased estate and expected timeframe. If there are debts which are potentially not enforceable, care should be taken to obtain a court order to disregard the debt so that they are protected.
    6. Funeral debts can be dealt with prior to grant of probate by contacting the deceased’s bank.
    7. There may be interests accumulated on legacies in the Will after 12 months of the date of death. 
    8. Liquidating an asset can take time. Priority should be placed on liquidating Victorian assets.
    9. Specific gifts set out in the Will.
    10. Powers of delay given to trustees should be reviewed. 
    11. Death duties may require apportionment and there could be capital gains tax implications.
    12. Stock exchange noting service can be used to contact a large number of companies in a single request. Transfers may also be ordered from the companies at the same time. Care should be taken to obtain a non-dutiable transfer. You can also contact each company separately and provide the grant of probate. Shares should be dealt with to reduce them from issuing bonus shares which require additional transfers. 
    13. Insurance should be renewed if required as they may lapse for non-payment.

    Dealing with potential claims

    If there is a potential testamentary provision claim, then no monies should be paid out until the 6 month limitation period has expired per Act. Similarly, all tax issues should be dealt with before final distributions. Updates should be provided to beneficiaries and claimants about the reasons the delay and expected timeframes to finalise them. Monies should be left in an interest bearing account.

    Estate accounting

    It is important to keep records of all interim distributions and to reconcile with the financial records of the Estate periodically. An accountant or tax agent can be engaged to lodge the tax return. 

    Communicating with beneficiaries

    It is important to disclose information to beneficiaries, particularly the Will and information they request related to the final distribution. Withholding information does not serve to finalise the distribution and may raise tensions between the executor and beneficiaries which are unnecessary. In this respect, as an executor you are acting for the estate not for beneficiaries. So you should be aware of executor duties. If any beneficiaries want to rearrange distributions then they should be advised to seek independent legal advice so that you do not give legal advice. Honesty with beneficiaries and not being evasive as it is better to keep them informed and the reasons for delays and expected future timeframes.

    If you need legal advice, feel free to contact our expert deceased estate lawyers that administer estates regularly. 

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