A Detailed View on Ownership of Assets

Well, we can’t take our assets with us when we die. But, it has to go somewhere, and it would be better if you decide where it should go as quick as possible. According to law, "Ownership of some assets, such as life insurance proceeds and funds in bank accounts, may transfer to a designated beneficiary upon death."

The property left behind after a person’s death is called estate and a probate attorney in Albuquerque can help the person to understand what happens to his estate after his death and before it is distributed to the beneficiaries.

Generally, the value and content of an estate may change after the death of a person. This is because income and pay debts are incurred to the estate by the deceased and his estate. Some of the common sources of income considered are,

• Rent owed to the deceased
• Dividend payments

The common estate debts are,

• Insurance premiums
• Funeral expenses

In most cases, personal representatives are appointed by the court and supervised by family law attorneys in Albuquerque to manage the affairs of the estate until the estate is closed. The personal representative is responsible for the following activities,

• Gathering the estate’s property and keeping it safe
• Filing a final tax return for the deceased
• Filing estate tax returns, paying debts
• Selling estate property
• Notifying estate creditors and beneficiaries
• Filing an inventory of the estate’s assets, and
• Making distributions

While carrying out the estate affairs, the representative will never mingle these assets with his/her own but open a bank account for estate transactions. Within four years of the person’s date of death, a will may be offered for probate. A personal representative will be named in most of the wills and do not require her to post a bond or file a final accounting. The cost of the estate will be reduced for wills that are not bound by these requirements.

Different rules may apply when a person dies without a valid will. In such situations, the application process is tedious and more expensive. To post a bond and file an accounting, the family law attorney is Albuquerque must search for the missing or unknown heirs, call additional witness to testify in support of the application, and require a personal representative. The intestate distributions are carried out only by statute, not the wishes of the deceased. Talk to your family law firm in Albuquerque to find out how estate property gets distributed.

The author of this article is the leading family law attorney in Albuquerque with a decade of experience in practicing law. He specializes in all family law practices including property division, child custody, child support, spousal support, probate and wills, and more. Visit http://salcedolawnm.com for more information.