What is Estate Administration?

When a person passes away they leave their estate behind. Someone needs to step in and manage the estate. That person is called the personal representative. The personal representative manages then engages in the estate administration process.

Estate administration is the process of collecting the estate assets, paying the taxes owed by the estate, paying the debts of the estate and then paying the beneficiaries of the estate. It is very simple in concept but can be difficult in practice.

The process is the same whether someone dies with or without a will. The difference is that a will provides instructions as to how some of these things are to be done while if someone doesn’t have a will all instructions are provided by statutes.