When you are drafting your estate plan, one of the items that you'll have to decide is who will be the executor or trustee. The person or entity you choose has several certain important decisions and obligations. For example, they will decide whether certain tax elections are made in your estate, whether an allowance is paid to the surviving spouse, where the funds are invested and when distributions are made.
Naming more than one individual as a personal representative may be a solution that avoids any potential deadlock, but it also creates some complexity in the administration of the estate. Naming only one child as the personal representative also creates a potential source of disgruntlement from the other kids. Meanwhile, naming a corporate trustee avoids many of the issues...at a cost.
If you have any potential concerns about how your kids will handle the administration issues, leave the power to a third party alone to decide these questions, or provide for a mechanism for the kids to handle the dispute (mediation, random, etc.
7 comments:
Does the executor need to be a resident of the State of Iowa?
Good question. The statute provides that if a non-resident is an executor, that a resident must also be appointed to serve with them. However, it is not uncommon for a court to waive that requirement in the right situation.
I am a named executor of an Iowa will, I live in Florida. My cousin is also named executor. If he is unable to perform his duties, is there a problem for me being out of state? As a side, my aunt is in a nursing home until spring, she is being told by a "legal advisor" that she should sell her car and home that she will never be returning to her home. No medical doctor has told her that. I feel she is being coerced into drawing up a new will and appointing different executors. she is being told that I cannot be executor because I live in another state. Can you help?
Colleen-
The fact that you live out of state does not prohibit you from serving as executor. There is a statute that says an out-of-state resident should have an in-state resident serve with them, but that is commonly waived by the court.
As to the aunt selling the car and house, there could be issues with medical expenses, but I would need to know more. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss more specifics.
I am named executor of an Iowa will (person is still living) and there is no in-state resident serving as co-executor. Is this still legal?
Still legal to name an out-of-state resident as an executor. May need to name an Iowa resident as co-executor, which is up to the court to determine at that point.
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