• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
  • Services
    • Asset & Business Planning
    • Dental Practice Law
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medicaid and Elder Law
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration
  • Elder Law
    • Coping With Alzheimer’s
    • Emergency Medicaid & Nursing Home Planning
    • Guardianship & Conservatorship
    • Hospice Care
    • Medicaid Planning
    • Veteran’s Benefits
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Elder Law Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Elder Resources
        • Fishers Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenfield, Indiana Elder Law Resources
        • Greenwood Elder Resources
        • Indianapolis Elder Law Resources
        • Lawrence Elder Law Resources
        • Plainfield Elder Resources
        • Zionsville Elder Law Resources
    • Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
        • Advanced Estate Planning
        • Basic Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning for Niches
        • Trust Administration
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Alzheimer’s and Dementia
      • Asset Protection Planning
        • Business Succession Planning
      • Challenging an Indiana Will
      • Elder Abuse
      • Elder Law
        • Medicaid
        • Medicaid Planning
        • Planning for Long-Term Care
      • Estate Planning
        • Avoiding Estate Taxes
        • Estate Planning for Parents
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
        • LGBTQ Estate Planning
        • Women and the Need for Estate Planning
      • Financial Planning
      • How Divorce Impacts Your Estate Plan
      • Incapacity Planning
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Philanthropy in Your Estate Plan
      • Probate
      • Power of Attorney
      • Serving as Trustee
      • Small Estate Administration
      • Trusts
        • Trust Administration
        • Trust Administration
        • Serving as Executor
      • Testamentary Trusts
      • Understanding Your Social Security Retirement Benefits
      • Updating Your Estate Plan
      • Veteran Benefits
      • Wills
        • Contesting a Will
    • Newsletter
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Probate and Trust Administration
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss Of A Loved One
      • Probate Resources
        • Carmel, Indiana Probate Resources
        • Greenfield Probate
        • Greenwood Probate
        • Indianapolis Probate
        • Plainfield Probate
        • Indiana Probate
        • Zionsville Probate
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Areas We Serve
    • Boone County
      • Lebanon
      • Zionsville
    • Hamilton County
      • Carmel
      • Fishers
    • Hancock County
      • Greenfield
    • Hendricks County
      • Brownsburg
      • Plainfield
    • Johnson County
      • Franklin, Indiana
      • Greenwood
    • Marion County
      • Central Indiana
      • Indianapolis
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

CONNECT WITH US TODAY(317) 684-1100

Attend a Free Workshop
Home » Executor Duties – Estate Accounting

Executor Duties – Estate Accounting

December 31, 2020Estate Planning

Indianapolis estate planning attorneys

Are you serving as the Executor of the estate of a recently deceased loved one? If so, you may already know how complex and complicated the probate of an estate can be. At some point during the process, you may be asked to provide an estate accounting. If this is the first time you have served as an Executor, you may not know what an estate accounting entails. With that in mind, the Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft explain what is involved in an estate accounting.

Probate Basics

When an individual dies, he or she leaves behind assets. Those assets make up the decedent’s estate. Probate is the term given to the legal process that eventually transfers those estate assets to the intended beneficiaries and/or heirs of the estate. If you are serving as the Executor of the estate, you were appointed to that role by the decedent in his/her Last Will and Testament. Your overall job is to oversee the probate process. Additional functions that are typically included in the probate of an estate include:

  • Authenticating the decedent’s Last Will and Testament if one was left behind
  • Identifying, locating, securing, and valuing estate assets
  • Locating legal heirs of the estate if the decedent died intestate, or without a valid Will
  • Allowing creditors the opportunity to file claims against the estate
  • Litigating any challenges to the Will or estate
  • Ensuring the taxes owed by the estate are paid

Why Might I Be Required to Prepare an Estate Accounting?

In broad terms, an estate accounting is a report prepared by the Executor that explains everything that has been done up to that point in the probate process. If the estate is required to go through formal, court supervised, probate you may be required to submit an estate accounting to the court at the end of the probate process or at other times upon request. A beneficiary, heir, or even a creditor may also request an estate accounting during the probate process. As a rule, if the party requesting the accounting has a financial interest in the estate, an Executor will be required to fulfill that request.

What Is Included in an Estate Accounting?

An estate accounting is essentially a detailed record of what an Executor has done with the estate assets. The likelihood that an estate accounting will be required is one of the many reasons why it is crucial to keep excellent records when acting as an Executor.

An estate accounting will begin with an opening inventory that list all estate assets owned by the decedent at the time of his/her death along with a date of death value for each asset. If any additional assets are brought into the estate later, those must be included in the estate accounting as well. Throughout the probate process you may distribute some of those assets to beneficiaries or use them to pay creditors of the estate. If so, you must keep records of how the assets were used. There are also typically expenses incurred during the probate of an estate that must be included in an estate accounting. For example, if an appraiser was needed to value the decedent’s property or a real estate professional was called in to sell a vacation house, the fees paid for their services must be included in the accounting. Finally, an accounting must make it clear where the estate stands as of the date of the accounting. Specifically, it must make clear which assets remain part of the estate and how they will be spent or distributed.

Contact Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions or concerns about completing an estate accounting, contact the experienced Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Paul Kraft is Co-Founder and the senior Principal of Frank & Kraft, one of the leading law firms in Indiana in the area of estate planning as well as business and tax planning.

Mr. Kraft assists clients primarily in the areas of estate planning and administration, Medicaid planning, federal and state taxation, real estate and corporate law, bringing the added perspective of an accounting background to his work.
Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney
Latest posts by Paul A. Kraft, Estate Planning Attorney (see all)
  • Will I Still Have Control Over Assets If I Transfer Them into a Trust? - October 3, 2023
  • How Does Life Insurance Fit into My Estate Plan? - September 28, 2023
  • Will Medicaid Pay a Family Member to Care for Me in Indiana? - September 26, 2023

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Life insurance estate plan
How Does Life Insurance Fit into My Estate Plan?
Estate planning wishes honored
The Art of Estate Planning: Ensuring Your Wishes Are Honored
For many people, the primary motivation for creating an estate plan is the desire to provide for loved ones in the event of death. Along with ensuring that your estate assets are passed down to your designated beneficiaries, a well thought out estate plan can also help make sure your beneficiaries receive those assets as soon after your death as possible. As the Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft explain, making use of the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act is one way to transfer assets quickly after your death. The Problem with Probate If you have a spouse, children, parents, or other loved ones who financially depend on you, an important estate planning goal is to ensure that your loved ones have access to much-needed assets as soon as possible after you are gone. Unfortunately, probate can drag out the time it takes for beneficiaries to receive assets. Probate is the legal process that is often required following a death. While the ultimate goal of probate is to transfer assets to beneficiaries and/or heirs of the estate, several steps must be completed first. For example, creditors of the estate must be notified and provided with the opportunity to file claims against the estate. Any challenges to the validity of the Will must also be litigated before assets can be released. It can take months, even years, for assets to finally be released to the new owners if those assets have to go through probate. One of the many estate planning strategies available to help your estate avoid probate in the State of Indiana is the use of Transfer on Death Property Act. What Is the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act? The Transfer on Death Property Act (TDPA) can be found at Indiana Code 32-17-14 et. seq. The overall purpose of the TDPA is to allow the owner of real property to transfer his/her legal interest in that property to a designated beneficiary or beneficiaries at the time of death. When interest in property is transferred using the TDPA the property does not have to go through probate, meaning the beneficiary takes ownership of the property immediately following the death of the previous owner. Because people are often familiar with the “Payable on Death (POD)” option offered on financial accounts, it may be beneficial to think of a transfer on death property deed as similar to a POD designation on a bank account. When you designate a bank account, for example as a POD account you name a beneficiary. Immediately after your death, ownership of the bank accounts legally transfers to the beneficiary without the need for legal action. It is important to note that with a TOD deed or a POD account, the designated beneficiary has no legal ownership interest in the asset prior to the death of the owner. This is the primary difference between owning assets jointly and a TOD/POD designation. When you jointly own property or other assets, the co-owner has a present legal ownership interest in the asset. For example, if you and your spouse own real property jointly with rights of survivorship, your ownership interest in the property will automatically transfer to your spouse upon your death, just as with a TOD deed; however, your spouse also has an equal ownership interest in the property while you are alive. If you used a Transfer on Death deed instead of joint ownership, your ownership interest in the property would pass to your spouse upon your death; however, he/she would have no legal ownership interest in the property while you are alive. For a Transfer on Death deed to be valid, it must be executed by the owner of the real property, or their legal representative, and be recorded in the county where the real property is located. Upon the death of the property owner, the designated beneficiary takes legal ownership of the property without the need for the property to pass through probate. Contact Indianapolis Estate Planning Attorneys For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions or concerns about how to incorporate the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act into your estate plan, contact the experienced Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.
What You Need to Know about the Indiana Transfer on Death Property Act
Indianapolis estate planning attorneys
What Happens If I Die Without an Estate Plan in Place?
Protect grandparents
How Estate Planning Can Protect Your Grandparents
Estate planning myths
Debunking Estate Planning Myths

Primary Sidebar

Frank & Kraft, Attorneys at Law

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube

Blog Subscription

Signup for our blog to receive our latest estate planning insights!

Where We Are

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
135 N. Pennsylvania Street Suite 1100
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2485
Phone: (317) 684-1100
Fax: (317) 684-6111

See Larger MapGet directions

Office Hours

Monday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Map

frankkraft_sidbr_map

Footer

  • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
  • About The American Academy
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
footer-logo

Frank & Kraft Attorneys at Law
Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.

© 2023 · American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Sitemap | Contact Us