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What does it mean to file an inventory of the estate?

On Behalf of | Jul 4, 2024 | Estate Planning

Estate planning is a necessity for Kentucky residents regardless of their income, assets or family situation. The simplest way to create an estate plan is to have a will. However, when a person writes a will, they might not fully understand everything that goes into it.

Having a trustworthy person to serve as the executor is one of the most important factors of a person’s will being carried out as they wanted. As part of an estate being settled, the inventory must be filed. This is a fundamental part of the process and people need to understand how it works when they are writing their will.

Know the steps of filing an inventory of the estate

There are four basic steps:

  1. Itemizing assets
  2. Paying debts
  3. Filing and paying taxes
  4. Distributing the assets.

After the executor has been officially appointed, filing inventory must be done within 60 days.

With itemizing the assets, it means the entire scope of the testator’s estate. These items will be solely in the testator’s name. It could be anything from savings, investments, retirement accounts, vehicles and insurance policies among other properties. If they were jointly held with a spouse or another person, it goes to them immediately. If retirement accounts or insurance policies named a beneficiary, this is separate from the estate plan and it goes to that person.

Debts must be paid and the executor is responsible for paying them. There are options to pay them including using the executor deposit bank or an estate bank account. It is essential for the executor to maintain accurate records as to what was paid and when. Taxes must be filed and paid. This hinges on the amount of assets the testator had. There could be a federal tax payment, a state tax payment and others.

After the other steps are completed, the executor can proceed with distributing the assets. This will be done based on the testator’s statements in the will. As part of this process, titles may need to be transferred. This is where it is important to remember the value of having a basic estate plan because dying without a will (intestate) will mean the property will be distributed based on the law and this might conflict with the testator’s desires.

The inventory of the estate is a crucial part of an estate plan

As this shows, the executor will be a key part of having an effective estate plan. There are many duties that must be fulfilled and the inventory of the estate is one of the most critical parts. For help with understanding everything about estate planning and being properly prepared, it is useful to have assistance from the beginning.