Estate Planning Wills and Trusts Example

NH wills and trusts law

Aunt Bea died recently after she was cared for by her nephew for many years. Her husband previously died, and she did not have any children. Her Last Will and Testament left all of her remaining estate to her nephew, Robert, who had cared for her.

Aunt Bea owned a two-family home. There were tenants living below Bea at the time of her death. Since Bea died, the tenants have not been paying their rent. She also had some money in the bank, including an old bank account at St. Mary’s Bank in her name and her deceased husband’s name. She also had an annuity with Northwestern Mutual, naming her nephew Robert as the survivor beneficiary.

Robert retained our office to help probate the Last Will and Testament of Aunt Bea to legally transfer her assets into his name. Since he was already named as a survivor beneficiary on the annuity with Northwestern Mutual, Robert was able to access that account immediately by completing the appropriate forms and filing them with the insurance company. Aunt Bea’s bank accounts, including the account at St. Mary’s Bank that was in Aunt Bea’s name and her decease husband’s name, and her two family home had to go through Probate to be properly transferred to Robert.

Attorney Maureen Higham of this office filed a Petition for Probate Administration which was approved by the court. Attorney Higham then filed the appropriate bond with the court and received the Certificate of Appointment needed to close Aunt Bea’s bank accounts and evict the tenants who had stopped paying their rent.

Attorney Higham worked with an auctioneer to appropriately appraise the contents of Aunt Bea’s home and obtained a real estate appraisal of her home as well. The formal appraisal of a home is important after someone dies since it establishes the federal tax basis for the property which is needed for any subsequent sale by Robert.

The estate had to be opened for six months to allow creditors of Aunt Bea to come forward and file claims against the estate for money due them. After the six months had passed, Attorney Higham worked with Robert to prepare a final accounting to file with the Court and Aunt Bea’s final income tax return was filed with the IRS. The Probate Court allowed the final accounting without a hearing, and the real estate was properly transferred into Robert’s name making him the legal owner of the property. The legal fees involved in the administration of Aunt Bea’s estate were not substantial, since there were few complications.

Sometimes additional complications arise, such as creditors who make claims against the estate and relatives who are dissatisfied with the nature of the distribution created by the decedent in her Will. We are frequently able to negotiate a significant reduction in the amount of money owed to the creditors. With respect to contesting relatives, it is a very rare case where the contesting relatives, even though they may grumble their dissatisfaction, undertake the very substantial cost of trying to actually set aside a Will. In those instances, it is always a good idea to work with a law firm, since the law firm acts as a buffer between the executor of the estate and the dissatisfied relatives.