What are my obligations to creditors if I am the Executor of an Estate?
Full Question:
Answer:
It is the duty of the executor or administrator to notify directly by mail any creditors who are known at the time of the death. The executor/administrator must also place a legal notice in the local newspaper informing creditors of the death. This is done shortly after your executor/administratorhas been appointed by the court to handle your estate. Each state has different requirements of what the notice must contain, as well as the length of the notice. The notice will also provide how long the creditors will have to file a claim or risk that the claim be barred. Once this is done, the publisher prepares an Affidavit of Publication and this is put in the court file. The executor or administrator pays for this notice with the funds of the estate. Any claims not presented to the executor or administrator within this period need not be paid under most state laws. Those claims which are held valid and which are presented within this period, including any other debts and expenses known to the executor or Administrator, must be paid out of the available funds in the estate usually based on Court order to pay the claims. If the executor wants to dispute a claim, an action in the estate proceeding is filed to contest the claim.