The unexpected death of an employee doesn’t just cause a disruption in the workplace; it creates a domestic crisis. There is an estate which has to be administered and properly divided among the legal heirs. Estate administration is where some real problems can bubble up.
Not everybody thinks about wills and estates. A number of people will not prepare a will, thinking that because there are only one or two survivors the estate process will not be difficult at all. That isn’t true. Estates of those who die intestate, i.e. without leaving a will, must be handled by an administrator appointed by a public entity such as probate court and this person is under very close supervision (The duty of overseeing the administration of estates is performed by the Register of Wills in Maryland). An administrator is limited to what the law permits that person to do, and it is better to have an executor who is named in the will as the one tasked with administering the provisions of the document.
Anyone drafting a will should seriously consider what individual will be the executor. Unlike an administrator, the executor has both authority granted by law and additional powers granted by the will itself, allowing for greater flexibility in matters such as the sale of property. The executor does need to be somebody who is responsible and willing to take on the task. However, there is a lot of work in seeing to it a will is properly administered and survivors receive their allotted shares. A critical activity is to educate the executor beforehand and even prepare things so that his or her job is made as easy as possible. The challenge is that someone who is not well-versed in probate law does not quite know how to best instruct that very important person.
Published By Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc.
