PROBATE ISSUES TO CONSIDER.  VALUATION AND PREFERENCES OF HEIRS.

June 2022

As I near the completion of the administration of my father’s estate, I thought it important to share some of my feelings as they occur.  I will, likely, revise them in my mind in the future so a current record might provide you, the reader, with some insight unlittered by the lens of time.

One of the hardest things I had to do in resolving my fathers’ estate was dividing up his assets.  I found that numerous things came into the decisions I made.   YES!, MY FATHER HAD A WILL AND YES I PROBATED IT.   I wrote it.  I am the Executor.  However, the term “share and share alike,” while being the gold standard in fairness, is not specific enough to say who gets what.  

It is practically impossible to say, in a will, who gets every little thing in a deceased family member’s estate.  Most wills are much more general.  Therefore, in resolving the estate and distributing the assets, there will be a lot of stuff for the executor to divide up and numerous factors must be considered.  This is the job of the Executor of the will (as well as the Administrator of the estate in cases of no will.)

For example, one consideration is the value of an asset?  Seems simple.  But value is subjective and based on many factors.  Even professional appraisals can vary significantly.  Placing appropriate values on various assets is difficult and time consuming.  But it is also very necessary. 

Fairness dictates proper valuations of assets such as homes, land, cars, jewelry, art, equipment, tools ect…  Fairness also dictates, though, that the heirs agree on that value.  If they don’t agree, they won’t feel fairly treated.  That is a fact, folks.  

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If you are the administrator (in an estate with no will) or the Executor (appointed by the court to handle the estate according to a will) then you must take the time to search out comparable values for items so that you can justify your valuations.  In real estate, it is called "comparables" These are similar properties that would likely have similar values which are used to compare and arrive at a value for your property or item.

Another factor that I had to consider in resolving my father’s estate was the personal preferences of the heirs.  Those preferences of the heirs must be learned by the Executor or Administrator.  This is much harder that you may think.  It took five months to come to an agreement as to who would get what. 

One of my biggest issues was that a sibling was hesitant to express his wishes.  After five months, I had to impress upon him the importance of getting the matter decided as it was costing us money every day to let the estate remain unresolved.  As a side note here, every heir gets concerned quickly when they learn a lack of decision is directly costing them money every day.  It still took quite a discussion to get him to express his preference.  He would not do it by email, text, phone, letter, or carrier pigeon.  It took a serious face-to-face discussion. 

The lesson I took away from this is that some heirs fear being denied what they want and/or fear a resulting argument so they are reluctant to speak up.  This is normal human behavior and where the Executor or Administrator is aware of it, they will be more successful in handling it. 

So, while I thought this was going to be an article on “letting go,” I recalled that other issues, ones that demands attention prior to letting go, must be addressed. 

Fair and agreed upon valuation of assets must occur so that all will feel fairly treated under an “share and share alike” language in the will.  This holds true whether the asset is a house, a car, a boat, a piece of jewelry or whatever. 

And the preferences of the heirs must be determined.  It can be hard to get heirs to express their wishes, but reminding them that delay costs them money can help to push them to make their preferences known.

And now YOU know.