Colliton

Consider another issue — real estate. If Mom left the house to Mary, hopefully the will provided details regarding who pays the bills until the estate is settled. Is it the estate or Mary? If the will says “equally to my three children” or such similar language and Mary needs to buy out the other two, then ideally there will be an agreement regarding value/appraisal as well as timing and other details. There also needs to be understanding who pays if there is a mortgage on the real estate. Is the property taken “under and subject to the mortgage” or not? All of these understandings should be memorialized in a Family Settlement Agreement that can be prepared by a good estates/elder law attorney. Most executors are entitled to be paid for their work and I agree. A final Family Settlement Agreement includes an informal accounting where beneficiaries receive their fair share and sign off on the results. The executor’s work is then complete.

Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice to elder law, retirement and estate planning, Medicaid, Medicare, life care and special needs at 790 East Market St., Suite 250, West Chester, Pa., 19382, 610436-6674Call via Mitel , colliton@collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, cofounder of Life Transition Services LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to radio WCHE 1520, “50+ Planning Ahead,” with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Associates, and Phil McFadden, Home Instead Senior Care.