How to Sign a Check as an Executor of an Estate
When someone dies, the person who assumes responsibility for the deceased's affairs is known as the executor or executrix. The executor's responsibilities include settling the deceased's debts; filing her final tax returns; inventorying and protecting her assets; dealing with probate and distributing her property according to her will. The executor may have to spend months at the job before he can wrap up the estate, during which time he'll have to handle deposits, manage assets and write checks to creditors and others.
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Instructions
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Set up a bank account for the estate. You can use this account to deposit money owed to the estate, such as income from a rental property or a repaid loan. You can also use it to hold money from the estate that you can draw on to write checks. The American Bar Association states that the account should be identified as, for example, "John Smith, Executor for the Estate of Ron Smith, deceased," and that you must sign the checks the same way.
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Write checks to pay bills for the estate. It's not just a matter of paying off credit cards or student loans, FindLaw states; you may have to pay the deceased's employees, hire appraisers to value the deceased's property or pay the mortgage and homeowners insurance on the deceased's house.
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Use the estate bank account checks to cover any taxes the estate has to pay. According to the American Bar Association, this will include a final income tax filing for the deceased, an income-tax filing for the estate and possibly estate taxes, gift taxes and property taxes. To pay the estate's income tax, you'll need to apply to the IRS to assign the estate a tax identification number.
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Check with a lawyer or financial adviser if you're not sure you're doing the right thing. The estate's beneficiaries can sue if you manage the estate to benefit yourself. This could involve, for example, selling the deceased's assets to yourself at a discount. The ABA states that, even if you make an honest mistake, you're at legal risk if your action or inaction hurts the value of the estate.
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Comments
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"John Smith, Executor for the Estate of Ron Smith, deceased". That's an awful lot of stuff to write on the 2.75" signature line of a check...
