probate or no?

[mchookem 16,765]

so, mom just died at the beginning of January.

she had a will, pretty simple, i'm executor, 50/50 split b/t younger sister and i. she had a little nest egg surprisingly, not huge but she made it into six figures. plus a house we will sell. 

no debt... except she spent about 3 weeks in the hospital at the end. i have yet to receive a bill, she was on medicare and she had a supplement...but i fear this month we're going to start getting hit with them, based on the explanation of benefits we've been getting. 

my dad (they were divorced but very close friends) keeps telling us we don't have to probate, waste of money, ignore the med bills, 'what are they gonna do?', close cash accounts (i'm on them) and split the cash, we're both 401K beneficiaries, be done with it...

but my dad is very much an 'angle' guy, cut corners,  etc... he's making us crazy trying to 'look out' for us. and it's not for him,  he's sitting pretty on his own, he doesn't want anything, just wants us to get everything we can. 

i just don't know what to do, what is required by law, what if the hospital bills that aren't covered wipe everything out...

i consider anything a blessing, we had no idea she'd saved so well and weren't expecting it. but i'm eligible to retire this year and it certainly would help me make the transition. sister is a single mom and niece is headed to college next year, would certainly help with that as well. 

it was a really nice surprise from mom. 

i'm so afraid of making the wrong move. but i'm also afraid of waiting too long,  dad's talking about 'if you don't move that money they can freeze the accounts!'

and if course, this is in addition to grieving, which is not helping. 

guess i'm just wondering if anybody has experience with this,  or any advice? 😒

[Player 4,610]

Unless she signed a transfer on death deed before she passed away, I don’t think you can avoid probate for the house.

Sorry for your loss.

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

First, sorry for your loss.

On the probate, non-real property, for the most part, can be handled (that is, distributed according to the wishes indicated in the will) without too much difficulty without a probate.

Real estate, however, is a different issue.  About the only way to maintain clear title to real estate that has a deceased person on the deed is by having a "personal representative" (catch all term for the various types of executor/administrator) appointed, and that only occurs through a probate or similar proceeding.

No creditor is going to seize any accounts.  They basically have to wait for probate to assert any claims against the deceased.  A probate doesn't have to be a monster, hairy deal.  Get together a list of all the known assets (and whether there is a beneficiary, because these are non-probate assets, like 401k or IRA, or even JTROS or PoD bank accounts), and your best estimate of the value.  With that, a probate lawyer will be able to estimate the cost of probate reasonably accurately, and determine if you qualify for things like "small estate administration."

The cost of the probate is likely to be offset by being able to get fair market value for her house.  If you tried to sell it without probate, a title company probably won't insure it (among other problems) and you would have to give a significant discount if you could even sell it at all.

[mchookem 16,765]

thank you for the replies. that's what i thought about the house, that we won't be able to sell without probating.

i'm co-owner of the cash accounts, have my own card and direct access. i'm wondering... could i just withdraw it all, pay my sister her half,  and avoid any medical claims against it? 

i guess that could have tax implications. maybe not if we just put it under the mattress lol

i realize surly is not all lawyers. like i said, was just hoping somebody had experience with this. i'm meeting with an actual lawyer once i get the death certs, but i'm assuming he's going to be telling me everything 'by the book'. 

 

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

If you have to probate for the house, might as well probate everything else too.  Actually, failure to do it by the book in probate creates liability for the executor appointed under the will.

Also, you will need to file a final tax return and an estate tax return to keep things by the book.  These are independent of probate, but assisted by the probate process.

[TexasGary 867]

I have a very similar situation.

My Mom passed away on December 19th.  She left a will naming me and my sister as executors. 50/50 split with the sister. She had no debt other than the remaining mortgage. The only things that remain in the estate are an insurance check made out to "The Estate of" and her house.  I have been told by a title office that the deed can be transferred to me by an Affidavit of Heirship.  That just leaves the insurance check.  It's only $10k.  My question is am I going to have to go to probate court just for the insurance check?  The costs would take about half of the check.

[Ojo Rojo 2,053]

On 1/18/2022 at 3:16 PM, TexasGary said:

I have a very similar situation.

My Mom passed away on December 19th.  She left a will naming me and my sister as executors. 50/50 split with the sister. She had no debt other than the remaining mortgage. The only things that remain in the estate are an insurance check made out to "The Estate of" and her house.  I have been told by a title office that the deed can be transferred to me by an Affidavit of Heirship.  That just leaves the insurance check.  It's only $10k.  My question is am I going to have to go to probate court just for the insurance check?  The costs would take about half of the check.

I tell people all the time, "There's the technical legal answer and then there's the practical answer."  The technical legal answer is that you would have to open a probate in order to negotiate the check.  The practical answer is that you can do whatever the bank will allow you to do.  I would go to your bank and tell them the issue and ask them if they will allow you to deposit the check.  They probably won't unless you have a relationship with the bank and they want your business.  In other words, they need a compelling reason to take the risk, unless you happen to work with someone who DGAF or sees it for what it is.  The risk is pretty small - it's a small amount of money and who is going to bitch?  If you don't get the answer you want the first time I would try a couple more times, either with different people within the same bank or a different bank.  If that doesn't work, you might be able to file the will as a muniment of title only, which doesn't involve a full-on probate, but would provide some cover for the bank.  That process is in between probate and an affidavit of heirship.  It should be a lot cheaper than probate and a lot faster.  I would check with the bank in advance, though, to make sure they will deposit the check if you do it that way.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,729]

@Ojo Rojo While on the topic, my dad has run up some unsecured debt in the past which has passed through the hands of many debt collectors. The debt is 5-10 years old now. He's in his 80s and could care less about his credit score. We ignore the calls and letters. When he eventually passes, do the debt collectors have a method of discovering this and making a claim on the estate? The estate isn't much and frankly the debt would be a healthy percent of the estate.

[Ojo Rojo 2,053]

1 minute ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

@Ojo Rojo While on the topic, my dad has run up some unsecured debt in the past which has passed through the hands of many debt collectors. The debt is 5-10 years old now. He's in his 80s and could care less about his credit score. We ignore the calls and letters. When he eventually passes, do the debt collectors have a method of discovering this and making a claim on the estate? The estate isn't much and frankly the debt would be a healthy percent of the estate.

If you open a probate or administration you are required to post a notice for creditors. Creditors stay on top of those probate notices, so they would likely be aware and may file a claim on the estate.

Limitations may have run on their ability to collect it.  I am assuming credit cards.  I don't deal much with credit card debt, so I don't know if cardholder agreements have some kind of tolling agreement that would extend the limitations period for suing on the debt.

Couple of other possibilities for dealing with it.  One is that there is a special kind of notice you can give after the estate administration or probate is opened that will shorten the limitations period to four months.  If the unsecured creditor does not file their claim within that period then the claim is barred.  I have knocked out a bunch of unsecured debt doing that in the past.  If any remains they will usually negotiate it down, in my experience.  So, send your notice and if that doesn't knock it out then negotiate with them.  If that doesn't work make them go all the way to get their money.

[TexasGary 867]

38 minutes ago, Ojo Rojo said:

I tell people all the time, "There's the technical legal answer and then there's the practical answer."  The technical legal answer is that you would have to open a probate in order to negotiate the check.  The practical answer is that you can do whatever the bank will allow you to do.  I would go to your bank and tell them the issue and ask them if they will allow you to deposit the check.  They probably won't unless you have a relationship with the bank and they want your business.  In other words, they need a compelling reason to take the risk, unless you happen to work with someone who DGAF or sees it for what it is.  The risk is pretty small - it's a small amount of money and who is going to bitch?  If you don't get the answer you want the first time I would try a couple more times, either with different people within the same bank or a different bank.  If that doesn't work, you might be able to file the will as a muniment of title only, which doesn't involve a full-on probate, but would provide some cover for the bank.  That process is in between probate and an affidavit of heirship.  It should be a lot cheaper than probate and a lot faster.  I would check with the bank in advance, though, to make sure they will deposit the check if you do it that way.

Thank you for your reply.  I went to three different banks and they all wanted letters of testamentary.  We went ahead and began the process of probate. Its going to wipe out $5000 of the $10,000 insurance policy but it will be done with.

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

12 minutes ago, TexasGary said:

Thank you for your reply.  I went to three different banks and they all wanted letters of testamentary.  We went ahead and began the process of probate. Its going to wipe out $5000 of the $10,000 insurance policy but it will be done with.

The other thing that may make you feel better is that an affidavit of heirship is probably a hickey on the title, re-titling the house through probate is a better thing to do.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

Not to shit on the redeye guy, but here are a few things you can do, aside from making a will.  Convert all your bank accounts to POD accounts (payable on death), make sure your beneficiaries on all your life insurance, 401Ks, etc are completely up to date.  If your dead person has real estate then yeah that complicates things.  But if you don't, please keep things simple and your heirs won't go through hell when you die.

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Not to shit on the redeye guy, but here are a few things you can do, aside from making a will.  Convert all your bank accounts to POD accounts (payable on death), make sure your beneficiaries on all your life insurance, 401Ks, etc are completely up to date.  If your dead person has real estate then yeah that complicates things.  But if you don't, please keep things simple and your heirs won't go through hell when you die.

Yeah, if you leave those things "unattended," then they'll have to go through probate, unnecessarily.

Probate isn't that bad, it do cost, though.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

22 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

Yeah, if you leave those things "unattended," then they'll have to go through probate, unnecessarily.

Probate isn't that bad, it do cost, though.

My dad passed a couple years ago, he didn’t have much in terms of assets, but probate was a pain, with having to file taxes and all.  His estate was less than $100k but was a beating to distribute.  

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

I'm going to guess that most people can get out of probate under $10k, maybe 20 at the outside.

That ain't chump change, but if there's much/any real estate of much value, the cleaner title alone is probably worth it.

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

Hence was my advice to make everything as simple as possible, your accounts being POD, everything else having a beneficiary.   Not trying to put you out of business. 

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

3 minutes ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Hence was my advice to make everything as simple as possible, your accounts being POD, everything else having a beneficiary.   Not trying to put you out of business. 

Haha, not my business.  Some colleagues perhaps.  

People tend to be really afraid of probate for some reason, and it's not really anything to be afraid of, beside the fact that it's kind of expensive.  And some lawyers use that fear to sell things like "living trusts" that people probably don't need.

Either way, someone is going to have to track down all the assets and show all the institutions a death certificate or a death certificate + letters testamentary.  And file a final tax return and an estate tax return.  Probate does impose some order on things and gives you someone experienced to guide you when questions arise.

Hell, with the estate tax deduction as high as it is, hardly anyone needs a will anymore to use the marital deduction.   But you may not be able to escape probate if there's real property involved.

[wildcat09 29,579]

Eh, you can still generally avoid probate with real property. Most title companies will accept an affidavit of heirship, but some have stricter requirements for what needs to be included than others and whether they'll accept one from interested parties if disinterested affiants with sufficient knowledge can't be found. Dealing with that can be a pain in the ass though, and probate is definitely cleaner.

[Ojo Rojo 2,053]

2 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Not to shit on the redeye guy, but here are a few things you can do, aside from making a will.  Convert all your bank accounts to POD accounts (payable on death), make sure your beneficiaries on all your life insurance, 401Ks, etc are completely up to date.  If your dead person has real estate then yeah that complicates things.  But if you don't, please keep things simple and your heirs won't go through hell when you die.

Haha! No worries. I actually don't do much probate work anymore, but even if I did there are so many people who don't know what to do an don't listen to advice out there that this will never not be a problem for a and there will be no shortage of work. I used to do probates of simple estates (independent administration, no debt, no fights) for a flat fee of $3500. I was always upside down compared to what the hourly rate would have been, but I'm hard-headed about trying to give clients value.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that if a client doesn't get value for what I do then it's their own fault or they were fucked from the beginning.  Anyway, your advice is good as far as reducing the workload (and cost and time) in probate.  Having as many of your assets converted to "non-probate" assets, which is what you described, is a simple and effective thing you can do. 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11,860]

33 minutes ago, Ojo Rojo said:

Haha! No worries. I actually don't do much probate work anymore, but even if I did there are so many people who don't know what to do an don't listen to advice out there that this will never not be a problem for a and there will be no shortage of work. I used to do probates of simple estates (independent administration, no debt, no fights) for a flat fee of $3500. I was always upside down compared to what the hourly rate would have been, but I'm hard-headed about trying to give clients value.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that if a client doesn't get value for what I do then it's their own fault or they were fucked from the beginning.  Anyway, your advice is good as far as reducing the workload (and cost and time) in probate.  Having as many of your assets converted to "non-probate" assets, which is what you described, is a simple and effective thing you can do. 

I’m having a bit of a mess trying to structure my estate.  Pm me and I’ll maybe give you some business. Seriously.  

[CooterBrown 18,288]

Is there any benefit to having an heir in the deed to property? My MIL recently added my wife to her home’s deed. Does that streamline things?

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

30 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Is there any benefit to having an heir in the deed to property? My MIL recently added my wife to her home’s deed. Does that streamline things?

Not really.  To sell the property, the deceased would still have to sign or otherwise be accounted for.  Assuming it's not a joint tenancy with right of survivorship.  I think it would also give "stepped up basis" only to the part conveyed by death, which is kind of a hassle and could be kind of costly, depending on how much it appreciates.

It also may fuck up the ability to claim homestead exemption on property taxes.

[TexasGary 867]

4 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

The other thing that may make you feel better is that an affidavit of heirship is probably a hickey on the title, re-titling the house through probate is a better thing to do.

My parents lived in Denton County.  I am not an attorney but if I understood what I read correctly we could have gotten a Small Estate Affidavit.  That would have given us the letter that we needed to cash the insurance check without an attorney.  The SEA is the result o a law passed in 2015 by the state that was specifically intended to avoid probate so that the legal cost would not wipe out most of the estate.  We would have qualified but Denton County does not allow an SEA if a will was left.  In this case it would have been better if they didn't have a will.  That goes against everything I have always been told but ok.

Edited February 3, 2022 by TexasGary

[Ojo Rojo 2,053]

1 hour ago, TexasGary said:

My parents lived in Denton County.  I am not an attorney but if I understood what I read correctly we could have gotten a Small Estate Affidavit.  That would have given us the letter that we needed to cash the insurance check without an attorney.  The SEA is the result o a law passed in 2015 by the state that was specifically intended to avoid probate so that the legal cost would not wipe out most of the estate.  We would have qualified but Denton County does not allow an SEA if a will was left.  In this case it would have been better if they didn't have a will.  That goes against everything I have always been told but ok.

Yeah, you can't use a small estate affidavit if there is a will.  I would have recommended that you "lose" the will, but it sounded like you had already disclosed its existence to the insurance company so that wasn't an option.

[elfenix 34,749]

who the fuck is charging $5,000 for a simple probate?

[wildcat09 29,579]

14 hours ago, elfenix said:

who the fuck is charging $5,000 for a simple probate?

Someone who really doesn't want to have to do it?

[elfenix 34,749]

and that's fair

[Ojo Rojo 2,053]

14 hours ago, elfenix said:

who the fuck is charging $5,000 for a simple probate?

Is that a lot?  I used to charge $3,500 and I was always upside down relative to what my hourly rate would have been. A lot of times "simple" probate would turn into more though.

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

An irony of it is that the more likely someone is to have a good will that provides for independent administration and is self-proving, and tends to foreclose dispute, the less likely they are to have a "simple" estate.   

[mchookem 16,765]

i did end up going thru full probate...but at the time i was enrolled thru my employer (the state) in a legal services program so i actually didn't have to pay anything except a few filing and processing fees. but i did guesstimate what the cost would have been based on my attorney's hourly rate and everything he did, and it was in the $5k range. 

but mostly it just made things really easy - he did all the work and i was able to quickly sell mom's house and get everything, savings, 401k, etc. divided evenly b/t me and my sister very fast.

plus, after all that we used the same attorney to do full on wills and complete all estate planning for my husband and i. that was probably at least another thousand.

but since we have no children together, but he has children from a prior marriage, and grandchildren, and i have a sister and especially a niece on my side that i want to leave something to, i realized it was actually critical we get it all laid out clearly. my husband is significantly older and i do not want to be having fights over money when he's gone! 

[BearSchlong 8,240]

Started Life Insurance claims today, beneficiary was just confirmed as "The estate of (Dad's name)"

Assuming that automatically puts me into probate territory, right?  There is a well-defined, non-disputed will, my Stepmom and I are co-executors, and my sister, me, and our stepbrother are the heirs.

No debts, he left my stepmom the house in the will. But we did use his CC to pay the funeral costs.

Not a probate question but I assume due to my dad's penchant for playing the stock market us beneficiaries are going to be subject to extensive capital gains taxes one day.

Ironically the best estate lawyer in town is my cousin, I've got a call in to her law partner (one of my closest friends) to discuss how to proceed, the irony is that if they don't give me a break their retainer is kinda steep.

Just read through this thread and I'm glad it exists.  Grateful I had at least one responsible parent.

Edited March 30, 2022 by BearSchlong

[UTGrad98 2,332]

Just to chime in here. When my dad passed we did everything with the affidavit of heirship. House, insurance, 401k, bank accounts. Some took talking to the right person but in the end we saved a bunch of money not probating. One caveat is he did live in Amarillo and we tend to do things differently there. Basically we knew someone who knew someone who we went to school with so most things had a way of working out without too much fuss. 

"hey utgrad sorry about your dad. You know he was the band king in middle school?"

" Yes sir I did. Do you think we will have any trouble since my dad didn't probate his will? "

"I'm sure we can figure out something." 

[UTGrad98 2,332]

31 minutes ago, BearSchlong said:

Started Life Insurance claims today, beneficiary was just confirmed as "The estate of (Dad's name)"

Assuming that automatically puts me into probate territory, right?  There is a well-defined, non-disputed will, my Stepmom and I are co-executors, and my sister, me, and our stepbrother are the heirs.

No debts, he left my stepmom the house in the will. But we did use his CC to pay the funeral costs.

Not a probate question but I assume due to my dad's penchant for playing the stock market us beneficiaries are going to be subject to extensive capital gains taxes one day.

Ironically the best estate lawyer in town is my cousin, I've got a call in to her law partner (one of my closest friends) to discuss how to proceed, the irony is that if they don't give me a break their retainer is kinda steep.

Just read through this thread and I'm glad it exists.  Grateful I had at least one responsible parent.

We had the same issue with a few checks and other things that were made out  to " the estate of my dad" 

Those really took the longest for us as we had to deal with wells Fargo on that one. Bank said heirship affidavit was not good enough. Needed to probate. Took me a year but after about the 7th different person I spoke with there she just said ya I'll go ahead and make these out to you and your brothers. Just be persistent. I wasn't gonna pay 5 grand for that stupid probate thing. Idiotic that is required . The affidavit is fine. 

[BearSchlong 8,240]

So did a lawyer have to prepare the heirship affidavit?  And that took a year?

[UTGrad98 2,332]

No the affidavit was done quite quickly and at a fraction of the cost. Can't remember exactly how it was done but it was the standard way. What took me a year was calling once a month telling wells Fargo the affidavit was good enough. 

[Bernard 879]

10 hours ago, BearSchlong said:

Not a probate question but I assume due to my dad's penchant for playing the stock market us beneficiaries are going to be subject to extensive capital gains taxes one day.

Do people really not know about the stepped up basis rule? It’s a time tested tool for completely avoiding taxes. The only catch is that someone has to die. 

Bernard

[BearSchlong 8,240]

Thank you for reminding me of that. I had tunnel vision looking at the cost basis on his brokerage statement.

[Reagan1k 3,042]

Yeah - Again...sorry for your loss.

Basis will step up on non-qualified accounts....... standard assets....stocks, property

Anything in a qualified account (IRA, Rollover IRA, 401(k) 403(b) etc) will come out and be taxed as income to the beneficiary.

Check and understand those rules for an inherited IRA.   You'd have some choices to make and the outcomes can be substantially different.

[DalTxHornFan 3,130]

13 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

Yeah - Again...sorry for your loss.

Basis will step up on non-qualified accounts....... standard assets....stocks, property

Anything in a qualified account (IRA, Rollover IRA, 401(k) 403(b) etc) will come out and be taxed as income to the beneficiary.

Check and understand those rules for an inherited IRA.   You'd have some choices to make and the outcomes can be substantially different.

PSA.  Spend your retirement accounts first.  Do direct transfers of RMDs to charitable organizations to avoid paying income taxes while still supporting these organizations.

Such a waste from an estate planning perspective to spend from non-qualified accounts when you have qualified accounts to utilize.  You'll die knowing that you did your best to maximize tax efficiency and your heirs will thank you and sing your praises for years after you are gone (unless you were a real asshole).

[Dr Fear 1,290]

Love me some step up basis.  Be aware that the Estate is going to be responsible for taxes on any capital gains that occur between the date of death and the date of distribution.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Dr Fear

[Bernard 879]

Am I correct thinking I've covered all the bases with my mom's estate this way:

1. Beneficiaries / POD's listed on all bank and investment accounts;
2. Transfer of Death deeds filed for real estate;
3. Beneficiary listed on car title;
4. Family is super civil and will have no disputes over distribution of personal property.
5. No other assets
6. No debts

Mom dragged me to her bank one day to discuss this topic with them. Bank person said, "If you walk in with a death certificate, you can walk out with a cashier's check."

My lawyer friend who owns a title company said, "All you need to do is hand me a copy of the death certificate and I'll file it with the county clerk".

Almost seems too easy.

Bernard

Edited April 1, 2022 by Bernard

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

13 minutes ago, Bernard said:

Am I correct thinking I've covered all the bases with my mom's estate this way:

1. Beneficiaries / POD's listed on all bank and investment accounts;
2. Transfer of Death deeds filed for real estate;
3. Beneficiary listed on car title;
4. Family is super civil and will have no disputes over distribution of personal property.
5. No other assets
6. No debts

Mom dragged me to her bank one day to discuss this topic with them. Bank person said, "If you walk in with a death certificate, you can walk out with a cashier's check."

My lawyer friend who owns a title company said, "All you need to do is hand me a copy of the death certificate and I'll file it with the county clerk".

Almost seems too easy.

Bernard

Everything other than real estate is pretty easy to deal with with a death certificate, and assuming the beneficiary designations were kept up.  Many or most olds wind up adding a kid or trusted kid to their bank account before death, so that kid has full privileges to help pay bills and keep the checkbook out of the hands of vulnerable elderly.  That can be even simpler than POD, or JTROS, or other arrangements.

You have the one simple device for dealing with real estate without probate in place on your real estate (the others, like trusts or family limited partnerships avoid probate but are complex in their own right).

So, yeah, you're probably in good shape.

Just a warning that affidavits of heirship can be regarded as a hickey on title by some title companies and purchasers because they're easily manipulated.

[Bernard 879]

7 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

assuming the beneficiary designations were kept up.

Yeah. I handled my aunt's estate a few years ago and all her accounts listed an already dead sister as beneficiary.

Bernard

[Reagan1k 3,042]

R

16 hours ago, Bernard said:

Yeah. I handled my aunt's estate a few years ago and all her accounts listed an already dead sister as beneficiary.

Bernard

Gets even more juicy when it’s still the Ex as a POD on accounts or as a Beni on insurance and qualified accounts! 

[Dr Fear 1,290]

FYI to other people reading this, a transfer on death deed is authorized by statute in Texas, but that is not the case in every state.

[TwiceHorn 32,076]

On 4/1/2022 at 5:00 PM, Bernard said:

Yeah. I handled my aunt's estate a few years ago and all her accounts listed an already dead sister as beneficiary.

Bernard

Yeah, if that's the sole beneficiary, it's probably probate city.

[BearSchlong 8,240]

The life insurance company won't discuss the claim with me until I can prove I'm executor, so I guess that means probate.

Also - question for your financial planning types - Dad had an after-tax common stock account that would be split three ways.  I'm assuming the best way to do that is to have UBS do it rather than have the surviving spouse liquidate assets and write a check to the other two beneficiaries, right?

[Reagan1k 3,042]

Unless there are extenuating circumstances, UBS can set up three new accounts and divide the securities among them.....eliminating the need to sell the securities and the basis will carry over based on date of death for those assets.  Each new owner can then act as they so choose with their 1/3. 

[Player 4,610]

Schlong - did your dad not have a designated beneficiary for the life insurance policy? If not, I assume you've already provided them with a copy of the death certificate and the will. 

[BearSchlong 8,240]

Oh he did, "the estate of. . ."