Congratulations, you have got the Grant of Probate which is the first step in what can be a difficult process.  Often legal assistance is required to get the Court Application through the Probate Registry.

Once you have the Grant of Probate, you as the Trustee of the Estate have the tasks of discharging the trusts created under the Will’s terms, including:

1. Communicating with beneficiaries and/or other persons regarding the Estate’s affairs;
2. Realising the assets of the Estate;
3. Paying the bills and/or determining claims on the Estate;
4. Finalising the tax affairs of the Estate;
5. Accounting to the beneficiaries for your management of the Estate;
6. Distributing the Estate to the entitled beneficiaries.

Additional Estate Management tasks include, but are not limited to:

1. Transfers of property and/or vehicles and/or assets including household chattels;
2. Advertising for persons with claims on the Estate under s63 of the Trustees Act;
3. Preparing contractual releases from the beneficiaries to yourself. WARNING: There are no statutory releases for Executors. Just because you distribute all the Estate’s money does not mean the Estate management tasks are complete, so best to get a contractual release.

All this has to be done in a prompt and timely manner (commonly known as the “Executor’s year”).

In our experience, the problems commonly experienced by Executors relate to a failure to plan properly, at the on-set, not managing beneficiary expectations well and difficulty organising the significant volume of paperwork which can sometimes be required.

We can provide assistance in advising Executors and drafting all documents related to the administration of an Estate and provide practical, prompt advice to Executors. Unlike other firms, we will do as little or as much as Executors ask of us in the Estate administration process.