When a loved one dies, you have to deal with the emotional pain and
grief—and you also may have to handle his or her final affairs. And
depending on whether your loved one made plans or executed an estate
plan, the journey ahead of you may be longer and more difficult than
expected.
Your immediate concern should be whether your loved one left
instructions regarding the disposition of the body, or had in place a
pre-paid funeral plan or life insurance intended to cover the costs of
the funeral. If the loved one failed to mention these things to you, you
may have to search for documents such as a will, trust, or list of
accounts and belongings.
I advise all of my clients to make a list of all of their
accounts, insurance policies, stocks, etc., for their family members.
Without such a list or a will, the family members may have a difficult
time tracking down all of the assets. You may also find this information
in bank statements, as Kansas law requires these funds to be separately
accounted for on behalf of the person who is deceased (known in legal
terms as "the decedent").
If you are able to find information regarding the disposition
of the body, consider yourself lucky. If you cannot, then you must
consider several alternatives. You could choose earth interment,
cremation, entombment, or donation of the body to a medical school or
other recipient specified by Kansas law. If you choose interment,
cremation, or entombment, how will you pay for the funeral? Do you have
access to any of the loved one's bank accounts, either by being named a
joint owner or by being designated as the payable-on-death (POD)
beneficiary or by having a power of attorney (POA) over the deceased?
Typically, a POA terminates upon the maker's death, except
that the attorney-in-fact can still make organ donations, authorize
autopsies, or dispose of the body after the maker's death.
The funeral director will apply for a death certificate. If
you are the decedent's executor, it will be your responsibility to
inform other government offices (such as Social Security) of the death.
Either you or the funeral home may request certified copies of the death
certificate. If you choose to do so, contact the Vital Statistics
Division of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, www.kdheks.gov/vital/death.html.
Request at least six to 10 certified copies of the
death certificate. That's because each institution in which the decedent
owned stocks, bonds, or securities, and each insurance company that
issued a life insurance policy on the decedent, will require a certified
copy of the death certificate. In addition, the decedent may have owned
other property, such as real estate, that requires a death certificate
in order to be transferred.
Locating the will, trusts, transfer-on-death deeds, or other
estate planning documents is sometimes difficult. If the decedent had an
attorney, I strongly recommend that you consult with that attorney
regarding those documents. The attorney might have the originals or
copies stored at his or her office.
If the decedent owned assets in his or her sole name, then a
probate administration may be necessary to transfer title to the
rightful owner of those assets. Probate is a legal procedure through the
court system, used to determine who will become the lawful owners of
the decedent's property, whether that is determined through intestacy
(no will) or testacy (existence of a will). The probate process also
provides a vehicle for creditors to file their claims against the
decedent.
There are exceptions, but as a general rule, if a will exists
it must be probated. A will names an executor who is responsible for
administering the decedent's assets and affairs. If the decedent left a
trust, the trust names a trustee who is responsible for administering
any of the decedent's property that is owned outside of probate. If you
find either a will or a trust, but are not the named executor or
trustee, you should immediately contact the person named.
By Alexandra R. English
To be continued in November.
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