Services For Estate Administrators and Heirs

If you’re an estate administrator or an heir you have more than grief and mourning on your plate. You also have legal responsibilities to other people and lots of procedures and paperwork to process, monitor and organize. My background as a lawyer, as well as my organizing expertise, mean that I am uniquely qualified to help you.

Manage Paperwork

  • Understand the documents and paperwork you’re receiving and explain why they’re important and what you need to do with them (Important: I am not licensed to practice law in North Carolina and so I can’t give you legal advice).
  • Organize all those documents and paperwork to be sure you meet deadlines and other legal requirements and that you can find what you need when you need it
  • Create an efficient and effective filing system

Organize And Clean Out

  • Photograph and/or inventory the contents of the deceased’s home and storage unit
  • Organize items in the home in preparation for moving, an estate sale or making donations to charity
  • Help you clean out the house and pack up the contents
  • Take items to charities or to recycling or arrange to have them picked up

Tip: Use A Mediator When Heirs Cannot Agree

In November I received a call from someone in the Waukegan, Illinois area. You have no idea how exciting that was — to know someone is reading the information I’ve posted and asking for more! That call made my day!  Keep those calls, e-mails and questions coming.

The caller wanted to know what to do if two (or more) heirs  want the same item and cannot agree on who will get it (she’d read the tip, “Shorten The Who-Gets-What Process”).

This was my answer: If this is a conflict you cannot resolve  with the other person, please don’t ask your professional organizer to resolve the matter. Instead, get a mediator. A mediator is a person with training and, in many states, certification, in facilitating communication between two or  more parties in a dispute. The mediator helps the parties reach agreement  themselves. Mediation is almost always much less expensive and time-consuming  than taking a dispute to court. For more information on mediation, visit http://www.alabar.org/brochures/mediation.pdf.

See more tips for Estate administrators & heirs.