Paying the Debts, Expenses, Bequests, and Devises from the Estate

• Author: Margaret A. Munro, Kathryn A. Murphy
• Profession: Has more than 30 years' experience in trusts, estates, family tax, and small businesses/Attorney with more than 20 years' experience administering estates and trusts and preparing estate and gift tax returns
• Pages: 135-148

CHAPTER 8 Paying the Debts, Expenses, Bequests, and Devises from the Estate 135

Chapter8

Paying the Debts,

Expenses, Bequests, and

Devises from the Estate

After you set up the estate and have some idea what all the assets are worth

(refer to Chapter7 if you’re not sure), you need to start identifying and

paying the decedent’s debts, the estate’s administration expenses, and any

claims against the estate. Only after you’re sure that you’ve discovered and paid

them all, can you begin distributing the estate’s remaining assets to its heirs.

This chapter points out how to determine and pay the debts of the estate and

administration expenses, help a beneciary to make an eective disclaimer of a

bequest or devise, eectively divide personal and household articles among the

decedent’s heirs (often the trickiest area to negotiate among those heirs), and

divide and distribute the rest of the decedent’s assets.

IN THIS CHAPTER

»

Identifying the decedent’s debts and

administration expenses

»

Prioritizing and paying debts from

estate assets

»

Letting beneciaries know about

their right to disclaim

»

Segregating and distributing named

personal property

»

Dividing other personal property

equitably and dealing with the rest of

the assets