Administering a Deceased Estate Properly – What’s the process?

When someone close to you passes away, there is a lot to consider in closing down their life. And often, there is a huge difference in people’s perception of what is involved compared to the reality. I’ve written this article to help prepare you for the process you are getting into.

The diagram below shows what most Executors believe is going to be required. There is the Doctor and funeral, the legal aspects of the Will and inheritances as well as all of the emotions they will feel about their loved one passing away.

However, the actual process and dependencies involved in closing down the life of someone close to you who has passed away, is somewhat more complex, as illustrated below. Think of the brown items like gates that need to be entered before being able to continue with the tasks below them in each case.

The first of these gates is the Death Certificate. The usual process for obtaining the Death Certificate is from the Funeral Director, who is only able to obtain the document once the person has been buried or cremated. You will need a certified copy of the Death Certificate before important organisations will process requests for closing accounts or executing the Will. A lawyer or justice of the peace can certify a copy of a document for you.

Once the Will is “read” by the lawyer, he or she will ask the Executor(s) to give permission them to apply for Probate to be granted. Probate is a court order recognising a Will as authentic and gives the executor the legal authority to deal with the deceased’s estate and distribute it according to the Will. The process for granting Probate takes at least six weeks in New Zealand. You will need a certified copy of the probate document before financial institutions will set up Estate bank accounts and release the funds of the deceased person into these bank accounts. Assets owned by the deceased person, such as for vehicles and properties, are only able to be transferred into the name of the Executor(s) after probate is granted. Only then can you consider what you want to do with them such as sell or rent them out.

The Estate bequests can be distributed legally once a period of six months has passed from the date that Probate was granted. This period of time protects the Executor(s) from any liability, such as from creditors or anyone who wants to contest the Will. If a person who is close to the deceased person decides they have been short-changed or left out of the Will in terms of inheritances, they may choose to take the legal pathway of contesting or challenging the Will.

So, as you can see, there is quite a bit involved in administering a deceased estate. The whole process can take from 8 to 12 months, depending on the complexity of the estate. The Public Trust stated that it takes well over 50 hours on average for executors to complete all their tasks and finalise the estate, in an article they published here.