saoirse317
New Member
Role of Executor/trix when a will is not probated
Hello there. Hope you can help with this one...
My father passed away last August. According to advice from a lawyer my parents were using at the time, the will did not need to be probated because his assets all passed to my mother through right of survivorship. No problem there.
The problem I am encountering has to do with who has what obligation/authority considering the will was not probated.
My brother and I were listed as co-executors. But, the will was not probated, there were no assets to disburse and my sister and I - who are geographically closer to my mother and have been more intimately invovled in helping her with her personal affairs (she's disabled) - took care of all the paperwork for life insurance claims. (My mother was the beneficiary.) The only thing that still needs to be done is the final taxes, and here is where there is some disagreement.
Both my sister and I have been advised by our respective tax consultants that my mother should file her annual income tax return as a joint filing, and include the income my father received up until the date of his death. As POA for my mother, my sister has handled this. It seems logical to me. We were both also advised that a final tax return needed to be filed on the part of my father's estate.
The question then, is who has the responsibility to handle the two different tax returns, considering the will was never probated? The lawyer my mother consults periodically says it's her responsiblity, as surviving spouse, to handle both. (In which case, my sister was correct in filing the annual income tax return as POA for my mom.) My brother, on the other hand, thinks that it should be his responsibility to do both returns, since he was listed as co-executor. He believes this is the case, even though the will was never probated and neither of us had to officially act in the capacity of Executor/trix.
If you could help clear this up it would be greatly appreciated.
Hello there. Hope you can help with this one...
My father passed away last August. According to advice from a lawyer my parents were using at the time, the will did not need to be probated because his assets all passed to my mother through right of survivorship. No problem there.
The problem I am encountering has to do with who has what obligation/authority considering the will was not probated.
My brother and I were listed as co-executors. But, the will was not probated, there were no assets to disburse and my sister and I - who are geographically closer to my mother and have been more intimately invovled in helping her with her personal affairs (she's disabled) - took care of all the paperwork for life insurance claims. (My mother was the beneficiary.) The only thing that still needs to be done is the final taxes, and here is where there is some disagreement.
Both my sister and I have been advised by our respective tax consultants that my mother should file her annual income tax return as a joint filing, and include the income my father received up until the date of his death. As POA for my mother, my sister has handled this. It seems logical to me. We were both also advised that a final tax return needed to be filed on the part of my father's estate.
The question then, is who has the responsibility to handle the two different tax returns, considering the will was never probated? The lawyer my mother consults periodically says it's her responsiblity, as surviving spouse, to handle both. (In which case, my sister was correct in filing the annual income tax return as POA for my mom.) My brother, on the other hand, thinks that it should be his responsibility to do both returns, since he was listed as co-executor. He believes this is the case, even though the will was never probated and neither of us had to officially act in the capacity of Executor/trix.
If you could help clear this up it would be greatly appreciated.
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