Wendy Bennett

Easter weekend naturally brings about thoughts of Jesus’ death and resurrection. What we should be aware of as mortals is that our death is final.

There is no resurrection to bring us back into this world so we can provide instruction to our loved ones. Therefore, you need to get it right while you’re still on this Earth and assign an executor over your estate who will have the fortitude to tackle the major responsibility of administering your estate.

If you haven’t thought about the duties required of an executor, let me shed some light. Your executor will deal with some, or all, of the following: attorneys, the court system, banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, appraisers, creditors, your former employer, hospitals and/or medical providers who cared for you prior to your passing, and the funeral home.

Your executor will be responsible for seeing to the probating of your will and transfer of your assets, going through your personal belongings, records and documents, securing your home and other real estate until it can be properly disposed of, disconnecting your utilities and cellphone, filing your final tax return and addressing inheritance taxes here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is all outside of dealing with your designated (and grieving) heirs of whom your executor may or may not be one of.

As you can see, this is a thankless and difficult job and quite possibly your heirs and beneficiaries may find fault with the executor’s actions and may become anxious about the length of time it takes to settle the estate.

The person you chose to administer your estate should have the time, ability and acumen needed for this position, but should also be able to communicate well with your heirs and beneficiaries to keep them updated on the status of what is or isn’t being done and why. This person will have no knowledge of which beneficiaries may have a particular interest in specific assets or heirlooms or who you’d like to see as final owner of such items unless you provide specific instruction beforehand.

The executor’s job isn’t simply to distribute wealth, but to make sure that all debts and liabilities are discovered and resolved satisfactorily. Distributing assets too soon may result in insufficient assets to pay off creditors.

Whomever you entrust this duty to, they will have a time-consuming and challenging job so do your best to have all your affairs in order to ease some of this burden.

Mark Twain once said, “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” Please heed this advice and get your affairs in order so you can have peace of mind while still living your life.

Wendy Bennett is a senior financial adviser at Bennett Associates Wealth Management in Butler.

Bennett Associates is a registered investment adviser and does not provide any legal, accounting or tax advice. The material prepared is the opinion of the author and for informational purposes.