Albert was the executor of his uncle’s small estate. He paid the beneficiaries what he roughly calculated they should receive. But he did not hold back enough to pay all the estate debts. Now he was in trouble and looking for legal help. What should you or any executor have done to prevent this pain?

Executors Must Invest in Legal Advice

Albert wanted to avoid spending his uncle’s money. He thought the beneficiaries would thank him as they would each get more money. Instead, they were now steaming because they were asked to give money back. They were worried Albert had made other mistakes.

If you are an executor, don’t forget that your reasonable legal fees are paid by the estate.

Legal advice will help you understand your executor duties including:

• whether you should accept or renounce your role as executor
• confirming a will is legally valid
• setting out your rights and responsibilities as executor
• completing court papers for probate of the will
• helping you sell or transfer estate assets or property
• protecting yourself from creditors and beneficiaries
• avoiding any potential personal liability for income taxes
• showing you the correct way to distribute the estate
• ensuring beneficiaries approve your compensation

Finding the Right Estate Lawyer

Search the internet to get background information about an estate lawyer’s experience and expertise.  Call and interview the firm by phone before you make commitments.

Ask your financial planner, banker or accountant to recommend the name of an estate lawyer in your neighbourhood.

Professional advice will protect you as executor. Consider it an investment to make before it’s too late.

Executor Tip: Getting proper legal advice will keep you out of trouble.

I call it Executor’s Disease™. It infects your money.

I see the infection every day in my law office. It affects people in all income brackets.

Your money may already be contaminated. I will tell you what this disease does. I will share with you my insider secrets about the disease and how you can find a cure.

Executor’s Disease™ is the new danger that nobody has dared to talk about … until now.

Don’t worry, it’s not contagious.

You cannot pass this disease on like it was a medical condition. It can, however, spoil everything. It does not care about your grand plans for your family or your money.

No Family is Immune from Estate Disputes

You may or may not have a plan for your money. However, estate disputes over money are obstacles that you must anticipate.

Disputes over money can be like a disease. They can cause full-blown, financially devastating lawsuits.

Innocent beneficiaries of your estate become victims.

Why Traditional Estate Planning Won’t Help

Most traditional estate planning advisors focus on tax issues. They are into preserving and transferring wealth. They speak of wealth, meaning your assets, real estate, businesses, stocks, and investments.

Professional financial planners show you how to get maximum benefit from all these assets. They are usually very good at their job. You get to sleep better with peace of mind.

Estate planners help you set up an orderly wealth transfer. Seldom do they get involved in messy estate work or disputes.

However, this is where you come back into the picture. It is critical for you to understand how things have changed. Estate disputes have become commonplace and affect everyone, not just the wealthy.

Over the next while, I will be writing about executors. If you happen to want to learn more about Executor’s Disease™, download my free ebook here.

Can you imagine you’re suddenly an executor?

Like most executors, you don’t have any experience handling an estate.

Your new workload feels like you’ve just have taken on another full-time job.

Estate Disputes Can Be Horrible

You can now find out now that you’re going to be involved in an estate dispute.

It could be caused by a former spouse, an estranged child, a business creditor or partner.

In some cases, you could be involved in an income tax audit. You may have to sue a deadbeat to recover estate property.

These disputes can last 3-5 years, or more.

Whenever there is a dispute, you’ll be expected to spend more time:

• going to lawyer’s appointments; 
• reading legal and medical documents; and 
• attending court proceedings.

What Is Expected of Executors?

You will be expected to:

• keep time logs;
• maintain detailed financial records; 
• track your phone calls, letters and e-mails;
• help to collect evidence; 
• keep beneficiaries informed and happy; and
• sacrifice your personal life.

You will need to:

• maintain a complete list of assets and liabilities;
• know what property is insured; and
• file tax returns on time and pay all bills.

On top of that, you must take care of your own health, personal relationships and children.

One Word Describes This: YIKES

You do not have to do this all alone.

Use my experience helping executors for over 3 decades.

Read about the world’s first self defense guide for executors, Executor Kung Fu: Master Any Estate In Three Easy Steps. Read a sample chapter now.

Sign up for the next Executor Workshop.

Sign up here for an Executor Workshop I am running for EstateTherapy.com on January 26, 8 – 9 p.m. EST.

You will receive a copy of my book, Executor Toolkit: What Every Executor Needs to Succeed. You will learn my 3-step system to handle any estate.

You will learn:

• Understand the legal definitions and terms you must know
• The Probate Process at a Glance … 12 months and counting
• 5 Costly Mistakes Executors make and how to avoid them
• 4 Dangers Executors face
• The 3-Step Executor Mantra to handle any Estate

Register today to save your seat.

Here are 3 tips to keep you out of trouble.

1. You must know the distinction between executor work and legal work.
2. Get professional advice about your executor duties – the sooner the better.
3. Not all lawyers are experienced in probate matters or can advise you.

Will you Act as an Estate Executor…?

I can give you a proven system with practical tips in my upcoming Executor Workshop.

I’m conducting a one-hour executor workshop on Wednesday, January 26th at 8:00 PM EST.

It is a complete and easy-to-use system to make probate painless for any executor.

I’ve included in the cost of the workshop a downloadable guide called EstateTherapy’s Executor Toolkit: What Every Executor Needs to Know.  Unlike any other guide, it explains what you need to know as I walk you through the probate process, step by step.

You will benefit from the insider information I give to all executors who are my clients.  I call it EstateTherapy’s Executor Toolkit: What Every Executor Needs to Know.  This is the material that you should have received on the first day you started to act as executor.

Who should attend the executor workshop?

• an executor or co-executor who does not know their role and responsibilities
• an executor who wants to know what to do and when
• an executor trying to protect themselves from unnecessary executor liability and headaches

What will you learn?

• legal definitions and terms you must know
• The Probate Process at a Glance … 12 months and counting
• 5 costly mistakes executors make and how to avoid them
• 4 dangers executors face
• The 3-Step Executor Mantra to handle any estate

Space is limited for the workshop so register early to avoid disappointment.  You have nothing to lose with my risk-free guarantee.  The workshop is hosted at EstateTherapy.com.

Are you…?

• an executor who does not know their role and duties?
• an executor who wants to know what to do and when?
• trying to protect yourself from executor headaches?

If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, you’ll love this online workshop. You will find the fastest way to:

• see the Probate Process at a glance … 12 months and more
• avoid 5 Costly Mistakes executors make 
• sidestep the 4 Dangers executors face 
• use the 3-Step Executor Mantra to handle any estate
• understand legal terms and more

I will be you Executor Workshop instructor during this 90-minute interactive session.

When: Wednesday, January 26, 2010, 7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. EST.

Register now and get an advance sign up bonus. Don’t be disappointed.

Learn the roles and duties of being an executor before it’s too late.

Register here - Start-to-Finish Executor Workshop.

Okay, you’re not King Tut. You’re not going to take it with you. You’ll need a will. 

Do you know what happens to your money when you die?

If you don’t have a will, here are three key things to know:

• your spouse or children do not automatically get all your money
• your minor children will not be protected
• your family will need costly court orders

Somebody must first find your money.  That somebody is your executor, called your estate trustee in Ontario.  Before they can collect your money, they need legal authority to act for you. They will hire an estate lawyer to get advice and go to court.

Why invest in a professionally prepared will?

You can choose a person you trust to be your estate executor or estate trustee. For simplicity, let’s refer to this person as your executor.

The executor will be in control of all of your money. 

Executors can sell your property once their authority is confirmed by an estate court.

Getting Probate

This process is referred to as “getting probate” of a will. In Ontario, this is called getting a certificate of appointment of estate trustee.

The estate court certifies who represents you when you are gone.  The court issues a certificate confirming your executor and who shares in your estate.  Your executor can then administer your estate.

They collect all your money, pay taxes and bills and distribute the residue to your family.

Want more tips on being an executor? Get my two free mrwills.com guides to Executor Duties – What You Need to Know and Executor Mistakes – 10 Things Executors Must Never Do.

Register for one of my upcoming webinars about wills or executors.

3 Secrets to Protect Your Family will not show you how King Tut did it. You’ll learn action steps, pitfalls to avoid and get practical checklists to protect your money. Register today.

Who Inherits Your Money?