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    How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate
    How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate
    How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate
    Ebook90 pages1 hour

    How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate

    By Bart Windrum

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    About this ebook

    You may have *planned* your own estate. But do you know how to *settle* an estate left to you—quickly, efficiently, and economically? Using any one of this book’s suggestions will pay you back many fold in money, time, ease, and peace of mind. This unique book guides you in running your temporary estate settlement enterprise. Includes guidance for paperwork, authentication and security, interacting with gatekeepers, shipping and receiving, titles, taxes. Because it’s written by a lay person, from outside the financial industry, Estate Settlement is full of street-wise guidance and assessments. Author Bart Windrum settled the estate his parents left him. Topics include: how to interact with financial entities; forecasting in your own best interest; speeding the settlement process; managing all aspects of documents’ outflow and inflow plus the document stash itself; resources needed to run your estate settlement business (which will last for roughly half a year in its busiest phase); clarification about asset types; getting your money from the various entities holding it; obtaining and disposing of personal property; scams and victimization; tax ramifications, the mail; paying yourself as trustee/executor; and what to do with your inheritance.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBart Windrum
    Release dateFeb 21, 2011
    ISBN9780980109030
    How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate

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      Book preview

      How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate - Bart Windrum

      How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate

      Bart Windrum

      www.AxiomAction.com

      http://www.HospitalPatientAdvocate.com

      Copyright © 2008 Bart Windrum and Axiom Action LLC.

      Smashwords Edition

      Also by Bart Windrum:

      Notes from the Waiting Room: Managing a Loved One’s (End-of-Life) Hospitalization (includes Choosing End-of-Life CareWithout Hospitalization)

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced, or stored, beyond your purchased digital copy(ies), in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Axiom Action LLC, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

      Disclaimer: The information in this book is based upon personal experience, and inquiry into the medical and financial fields. This book does not provide medical, legal, or financial advice. This book is not intended as a substitute for professional guidance from healthcare providers, attorneys, financial advisors, and other professionals in the fields of medicine, law, and finance. The author and publisher are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of information contained within this book. Although every precaution has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within, the author and publisher assume no responsibility for errors, omissions, or inconsistencies.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting this author’s hard work.

      What others say about How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate

      How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate offers lay people easy-to-read, practical, time-saving information, touching on every aspect of the estate settling process. Even though I work in banking I could have used Efficiently Settle myself when dealing with my own parents’ estate. This book is really good! — RN, Credit Union Loan Officer, Canada

      These days, in our hurry-up, just give me the facts world, we may not expect much from how-to books beyond topicality and organization. We have forgotten how good the best helpful compendiums can be. I know: I edit them, and was pleasantly surprised to read and help edit How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate. Bart Windrum brings a personal touch and humanity to this somber and often technical topic. His humor and evident caring lighten the informational load. Given that estate settlement often follows on the heels of losing a loved one, Efficiently Settle is an excellent and apt companion to Notes from the Waiting Room. — Barbara Munson, Munson Communications

      For my mother Ruth—

      For opening the family purse periodically to me

      as a younger man, and refusing any interest upon payback

      For my father Mort—

      For his generosity of spirit, manifested a final time

      upon his passing

      For you—

      When assuming the role of estate settler

      on behalf of your loved one and the family estate,

      I wish you unending equanimity.

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      For Those Who Value Their Time

      Now You Have It, Now You Don’t

      Mentally Setting Aside Your Loss

      Estate Settlement Overview

      Assumptions

      Range

      Definitions

      Authentication

      Entity or Entities

      Estate

      Executor

      Forecasting

      Financial Power Documents

      Quick Assets

      Slow Assets

      Disclaimer

      Finding Qualified Professional Advisors

      Where’s the Lawyer?

      Represent Yourself for Certain Transactions

      Interacting with Financial Entities

      Same Process, Different Details

      What You Don’t Say Can’t Hurt You

      Saying Goodbye

      Who Was That You Talked With?

      Recording Calls

      Forecasting Your Own Best Interest

      Advance Planning to Speed Estate Settlement

      Payout Designations

      Surprise! When the Financial Power of Attorney Ends

      Wills

      Trusts

      Estate Settlement Documentation Management

      Authentication: Numbers and Documents

      Finding Documents

      Safe Deposit Box Catch-22

      Original Documents versus Copies

      How Many Original or Certified Documents to Obtain

      Reclaiming Documents

      Formality versus Informality

      Storing Documents

      Your Document Stash

      Absolutely Essential Documents

      Other Essential Authentication Documents

      Death Documents

      Divide and Protect Your Original/Certified Document Stash

      Life Documents

      Obtaining Medical Records

      Physically Maintaining Certain Records

      Entities’ Forms

      Signature Verification

      Resources for Effective Estate Settlement

      Equipment and Resources

      Manage Asset Delivery Methods

      Managing Outbound Delivery

      Managing Inbound Delivery

      Asset Types

      Quick Asset Transactions

      Slow Asset Transactions

      Getting Your Money

      Options for Transferring Money

      Obtaining Quick Assets at the Ban

      Obtaining Slow Assets: Insurance, IRAs, Utilities, Etc.

      Special Estate Bank Accounts

      Receiving Checks: In Whose Name?

      Obtaining and Disposing of Personal Property

      Begin Every Task ASAP

      Furniture

      Personal Property

      Vehicles

      Government Property

      Transferring Title to Real Property

      Artwork, Collectibles, Jewelry

      Estate Sales

      Scams and Victimization

      Tax Ramifications

      Filing the Deceased’s Last Tax Return: Medical Records

      The Mail

      Remember to Pay Yourself

      So Now You’ve Got the Loot

      The Options Are Yours

      For Formatted Print Copies of This Book

      Notes from the Waiting Room Companion Book

      About Bart Windrum

      Index

      Introduction

      Compared to losing a loved one, settling an estate doesn’t seem so important. However, after mentally setting aside that loss, these issues will loom large, for your future well being stands to undergo a major and sometimes life-changing enhancement.

      This book is written by a layperson for lay people, and is based on my direct experience dealing with these matters on my own family’s behalf. With this real-life guidance up front, you can effectively streamline the effort it takes to transfer estate resources—both financial and property—into your own possession (or the possession of other beneficiaries). This book will help you get it right the first time, saving you significant time and money, reducing the risk of wasting either.

      How to Efficiently Settle the Family Estate is both a stand-alone book and a companion to my first book, Notes from the Waiting Room:

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