If you accepted the responsibility of being someone’s named personal representative, it is important to try and carry out the job effectively and efficiently. One thing that could make this much harder is having a beneficiary file a legal challenge against you over your handling of the estate.
While you cannot always predict how others might react, the following three tips can help reduce the chance that you find yourself subjected to a challenge in court.
1. Be transparent
The family and other beneficiaries will want to know they can trust you. Some may give you that trust outright, while others might initially be suspicious. Either way, communicating regularly and honestly with those who have a right to know how things are going is advisable, as it can provide them with considerable reassurance.
2. Be diligent
Everyone makes many mistakes, but it is crucial to try and minimize these when administering an estate. Mistakes will slow things down and cause problems for others and yourself. They may also undermine people’s faith in your ability to complete the job as required — possibly leading to an attempt to have a court remove you from the role
3. Ask for help when needed
No one expects you to know everything, especially if it is your first time administering an estate. They also should not expect you to put your whole life on hold to do this. You can help yourself by asking others for help. That could range from asking family members to assist with tasks such as finding contact information for people who need to be informed of the death or compiling a list of the deceased’s assets all the way through to seeking legal guidance to help you deal with some of the more complicated aspects of probate.