Alaska Court System Self-Help

After being appointed the Personal Representative must do several tasks. You can watch a short presentation on Procedures Following Appointment as Personal Representative.

The chart below provides the specific tasks the Personal Representative is responsible for:

The Personal Representative will need to do many other practical tasks which are also described in the sections that follow. Also, the Forms and Instructions page has links to specific information about the different steps of the process.

The Personal Representative has the authority do almost anything the person who died could do with estate property, but they have a duty to act in the best interest of the estate and the beneficiaries or heirs. The Personal Representative can buy and sell property, settle debts and taxes, make repairs, enter into contracts and leases, abandon property, make investments, participate in lawsuits and continue most business dealings, among other things.

The Personal Representative can hire agents to help with the probate, including lawyers, accountants, bookkeepers, investment advisors, real estate agents, appraisers and property caretakers. The Personal Representative can also hire family members to assist with their duties, if appropriate.

A Personal Representative is a fiduciary which means that they are acting in a position of trust and their actions are held to a very high standard. The Personal Representative has a duty to act for the benefit of interested persons in the estate and not for his or her own personal benefit. A Personal Representative must follow the law, act with care and manage the estate efficiently and fairly. If the Personal Representative does something improper, they can be personally responsible from their own funds for damages.

Within 30 days after the court appoints you as the Personal Representative, you must send information to all of the heirs and devisees of the person who died telling them that you have opened the probate. You must include the heirs even if the person made a Will. You can file:

Information to Heirs and Devisees, P-340

You can send this information by regular mail or have it delivered personally.

If you are the Personal Representative, you should file the following documents with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS):

• Employer Identification Number (Form SS-4): You can apply on-line to the IRS who will assign a EIN to identify the estate for banking and income tax purposes. You need the EIN to open an estate bank account and to file tax documents for the estate. You should never use the social security number of the person who died or your own social security number to identify estate property. The EIN is sometimes called a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).
• Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship (Form 56): This Notice tells the IRS that the Personal Representative can act for the person who died. After it receives the notice, the IRS will send any information about the person's tax returns directly to you.
• Individual Income Tax Return (Form 1040).
• Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts, if necessary (Form 1041).
• Estate Tax Return, if necessary (Form 706).

If you are the personal representative and you have any questions about how to prepare the IRS forms, you may want to talk to a probate lawyer, a tax lawyer or a certified public accountant. For more information on filing tax returns, see Federal Tax Matters.

This Notice tells creditors of the person who died that there is a probate, you are the Personal Representative, and that they have four months from the first date of publication to file claims against the estate. If you are the Personal Representative, you can file:

• Notice to Creditors, P-341

1. You must publish the Notice once a week for three weeks in a row in a newspaper which is commonly read in the judicial district in which the probate is filed. It is a good idea to publish the Notice as soon as you are appointed as the Personal Representative because the probate cannot be closed until at least six months after the first date of publication. You do not need to publish this Notice if the estate qualifies as a small estate.
2. After you publish the Notice, the newspaper will send you a document that lists the dates on which the Notice appeared in the newspaper. File with the court as proof of publication:
   • Affidavit of Publication, P-342
3. You must mail or deliver the Notice personally to all creditors who have claims about which you know or could reasonably find out. If you do not do this, these creditors will have three years from the date of the person's death to bring their claims against the estate. For more information on creditor claims, including how to find creditors, how to file a claim as a creditor and what to do if a creditor files a claim, see Debts and Creditors.

Most creditors have four months from the date of the first publication of the Notice to file claims against the estate either with you or the court. If you are the Personal Representative, you then have 60 days to make a decision about whether to pay these claims. If you decide that a claim is not valid, you must file a "Disallowance of Claim".

For more information on creditor claims, including deciding whether to pay claims, filing a claim as a creditor and paying claims in the right order, see Debts and Creditors.

Allowances and exempt property are special payments that the Personal Representative makes to family members of the person who died from estate property. They can total up to $55,000 (or more in some cases). These payments are in addition to any shares that the family members receive from the estate (unless the Will says something differently).

The types of payments are generally as follows (more specific information can be found in the sections below):

These payments have priority over all other claims, including creditor claims, debts, taxes and costs of probate. If there is not enough property in the estate to pay all of these special payments, the Homestead Allowance is paid first, the Family Allowance is paid next and Exempt Property is paid last. Even if the person who died made a will that disinherited the spouse or children, the personal representative needs to pay the allowances and exempt property out of the estate. The spouse and children may disclaim their interest in receiving any allowances and exempt property, and would need to file a document with the court stating this.

You can watch a very short presentation on the Special Protections for Family Members.

A person "disclaims" property when they refuse to accept it after the person dies. A disclaimer is only valid if a person makes it before receiving or controlling the property. The person must describe the property in writing, sign the disclaimer, and file it with the court or deliver it to the Personal Representative.

A qualified disclaimer is a disclaimer made within nine months of the date of the person's death. It is "qualified" because the IRS does not treat you as the owner of the property for estate and gift tax purposes.

As a general rule, it passes as if you died before the person who died either by intestacy or under the person's Will. But the rules are complicated and this is not always the case. If you want to make a disclaimer, you may want to talk to a probate lawyer.

If you are the Personal Representative, you will usually make payments from the estate in the following order although this can be different for each probate:

• Homestead Allowance, Family Allowance and Exempt Property which have priority over all other claims. You can watch a very short presentation on the Special Protections for Family Members.
• Costs of probate as they become due, including expenses, Personal Representative fees and lawyer fees.
• Creditor claims, debts and taxes in order of priority.
• Remaining property to the persons who inherit it (heirs or devisees).

For specific information on when and how to transfer property to heirs and devisees, see Distribution of Estate Assets and Transferring Assets.

Yes. The Personal Representative has the right to be paid a "reasonable" fee for their time handling the probate and to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses. Most Personal Representatives choose to be paid at an hourly rate. While there is no set amount of what hourly fee is considered reasonable, the hourly rate must be based on the factors in Probate Rule 7.1. Many people think $25-35/hour is a reasonable rate, but every case is different.

A Personal Representative can choose another reasonable method of payment such as a lump sum, a percentage of estate assets, or certain property of the person who died. If the Will sets out what the fee is, the Personal Representative must choose either the payment under the Will or a reasonable fee before they are appointed.

They can also choose to serve without being paid. If the Personal Representative is the only heir or beneficiary of the estate, they will often serve without payment because estate property usually passes without income tax but all Personal Representative fees must be reported as taxable income.

The court looks at the following things:

• The amount of work and time needed to complete the probate.
• How difficult the probate was.
• Whether the Personal Representative needed any special skills or training.
• Whether the Personal Representative has any risk of personal liability after the probate is closed.
• The time that the probate took away from the Personal Representative's regular job.
• Whether the Personal Representative was reimbursed for expenses.
• What work the Personal Representative hired agents to do and the fees charged by those agents.
• Whether the Personal Representative did other tasks for the estate, such as serving as lawyer, accountant, appraiser, property manager or investment advisor and whether the Personal Representative charged for those tasks.
• How many Personal Representatives served.
• Any other factor that is important.

If you are the Personal Representative, you should keep good records of everything you do during the probate, including the date, time spent, and a description for each day. Keeping track of time is helpful for the court, helps interested persons understand what you did for the estate and helps to justify your fee.

Yes. The Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration prove that the Personal Representative has the power to do the things that the person who died could. You can assume that the Personal Representative has all of the powers of an owner unless you actually know of a limitation. You do not need to follow up on what the Personal Representative does with the property once you give it to them.

You can learn more about the:

• Accounting Requirements
• Debts & Creditors
• Distribution of Estate Assets
• Federal Taxes
• Inventory & Management of Assets
• Transferring Ownership/Title of Assets

If you are the Personal Representative, after you have completed all of your tasks as the Personal Representative, you must file documents with the court to close the informal probate.

There are two ways to close the informal probate:

1. Sworn Statement. The most common way to close an informal probate is to file a Sworn Statement of Personal Representative with the court. You will keep your powers as Personal Representative for one year after you file the Sworn Statement. If there are no court proceedings at the end of the year, your appointment will end automatically. No court hearing is needed. You can file:
   • Sworn Statement of Personal Representative to Close Informal Estate, P-355
   • Important: You must sign a verification under oath saying that all of these statements are true and complete to the best of your knowledge and belief. You can do this before a notary. Notary services are available for free at all state court offices.

2. Formal closing. You may also file a Request to Close Formal Estate and Approve Distribution that asks the court to close the probate formally. You can file this petition even if you have not opened a formal probate. The court will set a time and a date for a hearing. You must notify all interested persons of the hearing. At the hearing, the court will review the Inventory, Accounting and proposed distribution of any remaining property and listen to the concerns of all interested persons. If the court approves, it will close the probate and end your appointment immediately.

   You can file:

   • Request to Close Formal Estate and Approve Distribution, P-360

If you have any questions about how to close the estate, you may want talk to a probate lawyer.

If you are the Personal Representative, after you have completed all of your tasks as the Personal Representative, you must file documents with the court to close the formal probate.

To close the formal probate, you can file:

• Request to Close Formal Estate and Approve Distribution, P-360

The court will set a time and a date for a hearing. You must notify all interested persons of the hearing. At the hearing, the court will review the Inventory, Accounting and proposed distribution of any remaining property and listen to the concerns of all interested persons. If the court approves, it will close the probate and end your appointment immediately.

If you have any questions about how to close the estate, you may want talk to a probate lawyer.

You will keep your powers as Personal Representative for one year after you file the Closing Statement. If there are no court proceedings at the end of the year, your appointment automatically ends. No court hearing is needed.