Personal Representatives-where To Begin?

Congratulations! You just found out you have been named as the personal representative of an estate! So now what? Well first you need to understand how you got here. You may have been selected personally by the decedent to carry out this responsibility; as such you may consider this an honor and a curse. If the decedent died without a will intestate you were probably nominated by either family or friends; in this case just consider it a curse!

Your Authority

You will be issued “letters” from the court which say that you have been appointed personal representative. These letters are evidence that you have authority to act on behalf of the estate. You will need to show or send them to various third parties such as banks insurance companies etc. when you are administering the estate.

Opening and Closing of the Estate

Generally you can choose how you will formally open and close the estate and the extent of court supervision over your activities as a personal representative.

Formal proceedings will result in final and binding court orders and involve notice being sent to interested parties beneficiaries creditors etc. about actions to be taken. There may be a court hearing if an interested party objects to your actions. This option is also used if something in the case is out of the ordinary. For example statutes may require formal opening if the will is irregular. Formal proceedings may also be used to settle a dispute such as if family members disagree over who should be the personal representative. With informal proceedings there is no advance notice to parties and no binding orders from the court. This option is chosen when there are no controversies or aspects of the case that are out of the ordinary. Sometimes estates are opened informally but closed formally so as to get the protection of a court order for the personal representative that everything has been done correctly.

Your Specific Duties

• collecting and taking an inventory of estate assets and be sure they are protected during your time of administration;
• you must manage the assets until the estate is closed paying the estate bills including claims of creditors expenses of administration and any taxes; and
• making distribution to the heirs or the beneficiaries under a will.

The law expects you to be impartial to any one creditor or beneficiary. You cannot favor one person or yourself over others involved in the estate. Remember you have a fiduciary responsibility to properly handle the money and assets of others.

Detail of Responsibilities

1. Prior to appointment: A person named PR in a will has the power prior to appointment by the court to carry out written instructions of the deceased relating to the body funeral and burial arrangements. The PR may begin to take and protect the decedent’s property.

2. Accounting: The PR sets up an estate accounting system at the beginning of administration of the estate. For your protection keep records of all cash and other financial transactions of the estate and provide written accountings to the beneficiaries. This is very important and often not done correctly. In a supervised administration or with a formal closing the accounting forms are filed with the court. This information will also be required for tax purposes.

3. Inventory: Within three months you must prepare a written inventory of the estate assets on a courtapproved form. If you decide to close formally the inventory must be filed with the court. Otherwise just give a copy to interested parties.
Making sure that all proper bills are paid is an important part of your job. Send a Notice of Appointment to known creditors such as credit card companies physicians banks etc. that the person has died and you are the personal representative.

4. Notice of Appointment: Promptly after your appointment the PR must prepare a Notice of Appointment form and send this to all those interested in the estate such as beneficiaries and unpaid creditors and file proof with the court that this notice was sent. This notice form is to let the interested persons know the facts and ground rules regarding administration of the estate including your name and address and the court in which the papers are on file.

5. Creditor’s Claims: Making sure that all proper bills are paid is an important part of your job. Send a Notice of Appointment to known creditors such as credit card companies physicians banks etc. that the person has died and you are the personal representative.

You should publish another notice in the newspaper for unknown creditors. If creditors don’t send you a bill within four months after first publication the claim should be forever barred. If you don’t publish a notice the time for unknown creditors to make a claim against the estate is extended to a year from the date of the decedent’s death.

A claim may be given to you or filed with the court. No specific form is required. A bill that comes in the mail is a properly presented claim but don’t pay bills that are only presented orally. If you disagree with the claim you have 60 days to tell the claimant in writing. They then have 60 days to begin proceedings to enforce the claim.

It’s a good idea not to pay any claims until you’ve determined what they are and until you’ve reached the end of the time in which someone can make claims.

6. Family Protection: Allowances: Monetary allowances for certain family members such as surviving spouse or minor children during the period of administration are set by probate code but may be modified by court order. Where the family is entitled to these allowances they have priority over creditors.

7. Management and Investment: As personal representative you’re responsible for managing the estate until it is distributed. What you can and can’t do may be specified in the will or by Colorado’s probate code.

Once you’re appointed you have full authority and control over the assets the decedent owned in his name alone or as a cotenant with others. Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship is not a probate asset nor are proceeds of life insurance that are payable to a named beneficiary other than the estate.

To put others on notice of your authority reregister the decedent’s assets in the name of the estate with you listed as personal representative you will use your letters of appointment as evidence of your authority. For registered stocks and bonds submit your letters of appointment to the transfer agent along with the securities and an affidavit of domicile which you get from a broker or a bank. If you need to sell some securities to raise money for estate expenses you can do so without having the securities registered first although it usually takes longer to get the proceeds. Bearer bonds need not be reregistered. When you sell or distribute any real estate you will need to use your letters of appointment.

8. Tax Responsibilities: The PR files the final income tax returns for the decedent as well as any gift tax returns. Both Federal and State estate tax returns must be filed if the estate is of sufficient size. There is also a separate income tax return that must be filed for the estate. When a person dies his taxable year ends on the date of death and his income and deductions are reported through that date. The estate is a separate income tax paying entity and the PR must get a separate tax identification from the IRS.

9. Bond: A surety bond may be required by the terms of the will or by court order and bond premiums are payable out of the estate as an administration expense.

10. Compensation: You may choose to be compensated for your duties as personal representative. Your compensation and that of your attorney is subject to a “reasonableness test” under the Colorado Probate Code. Family members often serve without pay except for outofpocket costs. If you do this consider filing a fee waiver with the court. If you take compensation you must keep a detailed record of tasks performed and the time spent. Your attorney should also. Your compensation will be taxable as ordinary income.
The assets of the estate belong ultimately to the beneficiaries and not to you. Make distributions to beneficiaries as soon as it can be done safely.

11. Distribution: Generally estate assets are paid in this order: those held by the decedent as a fiduciary such as if the decedent was serving as a trustee of a trust at the time of death; family allowances; expenses of administration; funeral costs; debts and taxes under federal law; amounts expended by Colorado under Medicaid; expense of last illness; debts and taxes under state law; bills; specific gifts under a will; beneficiaries under a will or heirs when there is no will.

12. Termination: The estate does not terminate automatically. You may elect to close formally or informally. In informal closings a closing affidavit form is filed with the court indicating that the estate has been fully administered. This limits the time to one year when those who receive assets and creditors can challenge your administration and distribution of the estate.

In formal closings the administration and proposed distribution of the estate is approved by the court and the personal representative is immediately discharged or released from liability by court order. A formal closing usually does not require an actual hearing before a judge.

Liability

You are liable to the beneficiaries for any loss to the estate and for any gain the estate should have realized but did not if that loss cannot be shown to have been a reasonable risk taking into account the term of the investment. Also you are liable if you were negligent or intentionally did something you shouldn’t or failed to do something you should have done.

This information has been condensed from public material published by the Colorado Bar Association.

Jerry assists Buyers and Sellers in the lt;a href=”http://www.metrodenverhomes.com” target=”_blank”gt;Denver Real Estatelt;/agt; market.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;I have been serving the real estate needs of buyers and sellers in the Denver Metro Area since 1995.I am interested in building strong lasting lifelong relationships one person at a time.My goal is to become your personal Realtorfor life!

Trends And Problems Of Commercial Real Estate Market Canada

One of the most pressing issues for the market of course are the prices. According to the organizer of the roundtable the company Business Analyst Group average sale price for April was:
office 39 000 euro / sq.m.
Trade 38 000 euro / sq.m.
industrial 9 000 euro / sq.m.
the average rental rate offered on the open market in April was:
office 747 euro / sqm / month.
Trade 1218 euro / sqm / month.
industrial 158 euro / sqm / month.

In 2006 in the Canada was put into operation 24 000 sq.m. space in the new shopping and leisure centers.
In 2007 he had already put 30 000 sq. m. until the end of 2007 plans to introduce a further 70 000 80 000 sq.m. trade area as a shopping and entertainment center.

In addition over the next 3 years plans to build about 10 business centers and the same number of shopping centers. The rates of rent in the new sites is constantly increasing the maximum rate for April 2007 reached 4500 euro / sqm / month. for commercial space and 1770 euro / sqm / month. for the office.
Cost of sales 1 sq. m. in certain categories of commercial property increased over the year in 225 times for example industrial warehouses and administrative buildings.

Even in Moscow company today said that the market is overheating with us the stakes are too high the rent for our region is too high and the purchasing power and throughput is still not at the level of major Russian cities. This reduces the attractiveness of shopping centers in the eyes of tenants the start of discussions on Irina Fedchenko director of consulting company Business Analyst Group for example is very telling recent example of the opening TRK Greenwich for nontenant commercial areas. In the past the city of rumor that the lease rates on commercial real estate collapse. And whoever invests in real estate is now limbo: either invest or not. The timing of construction of new facilities or renovation of old protracted. The banks and leasing companies that lend to these deals too wonder: Does the alleged pay off dates announced for the construction projects. How long can increase rents and sale prices for commercial real estate in Canada?
.
Agreed that the stakes really high and Alexander Filatov director of the Canada branch of the company AlyansRegionLizing explaining it immaturity youth of the market started its development in 2004 alone and formed a deficit of commercial real estate. Investments in commercial real estate lease at this stage has its own risk but in the view of Alexander such a fall in prices to talk about the risks of nonmeans in the next two years will not be. Companies seeking to regain its image which is characterized above all the notion of ownership. Sitting in his room or rent the space to sit in a good business center or to withdraw somewhere in the suburbs this is a meaningful indicator for business. Therefore price increases will continue perhaps with a little break but in the coming 20072008 prices will rise. We discussed some of our business partners to back leasing transactions when they rent their premises for rent. They form the most growth of 510. This projection raise rental rates for next year . Paul Vysotsky director of OOO KLPInvest also predicts a rise in the prices of 10 in the segment of office real estate which is positioned at the level of class V. In this format no problems with the rental of commercial real estate there and I think that will never as well as benchmark average said Paul.

According to Paul Seliverstov head of the department for the management of commercial real estate company KoraTK: Entering the new facilities on the market today is not much obrushit market prices prevailing at the date. If a shopping center will focus not on the market but at prices that would like to see the investor then yes the problem may be as in Greenwich. If the price will be set market the commissioning of new facilities are not heavily affect the market and napolnyaemostyu tenants will be all right According to Paul in the near future even happen growth of the best sites. And this is related to entering federal players and Moscow’s foreign trade companies. At the same time graduation will be held at the premises of category A A B C and so forth as in large cities. Prices for rooms with a good location to grow. The cost to other falls.

A similar opinion Natalia Korchuganova Director Panacea considers that the average rental rates for retail space down to 30 that is due to the fact that increases the number of shopping centers: Those facilities that will be introduced in this and the next two or three years will be in demand and will find its customers for rental rates and investment. However already changing the requirements for office and retail space the entrepreneurs want to Superior more interesting environment. Here’s this new sites to developers investors and worth paying attention .
The need for careful consideration of projects and said the team leader of investment operations branch VTB in Novosibirsk Sergey Zemtsov and expressed confidence that everything will be fine and that any multipurpose facility for the Urals can pay off provided that it would be quality. We believe said Sergey that can reduce their risks even though now built many new facilities if built conceptually clear shopping centers with the Siberian or Moscow consulting firm. And another important point there is nothing to sell if it comes to shopping mall. Because when at least five areas are sold the management company having problems with the management. Moreover the object which belongs to several owners lower grade than the same object but by one owner. If these conditions are met it risks falling.

Opinions were roundtable on the prospects of the market divided but with the concern of all power.

An important constraint on the market that encourage higher prices and increasing financial risks to the round table participants was named position of authority and bureaucracy. Alexander Filatov Ltd. AlyansRegionLizing: When initially reviewed the transaction translation of nonresidential floor space turned to real estate agencies about assistance in this direction and we called the timing about a year and two years. In Novosibirsk when asked a similar question saying: Week Three. Date of issue it is not feasible! Such round tables should be conducted on the level of government. Because all are waiting. We have a project where land is not formalized but we admit it and the project involved the lessee who said: Guys the problems will not be because I have their relationship so I have something I druzhu and I pledge to completely make over half the land on you . We very much this development in the Kuzbass relations are based on personal interests and personal tie. We are ready to shift the risk to the lessee. But this problem must be addressed and can only deal with the authorities themselves.

The same problem addressed and Sergei Zemtsov OAO Vneshtorgbank branch in Novosibirsk: For us both for the bank it is important to reduce delays in obtaining permits documentation. In order to offer some advanced products need to get approvals cleared some attributed the timing and procedures for obvious . Many of the authorities accumulated and Andrew Verhoturova director of Agency’s daily news: When they decide the issue with the administration? When they put 20 girls in the notorious Room 108 and there navedut order? When the work principle of one window which is declared by the Management Committee of State property? Extends even to what is now the Committee for the Management of State property is not at all incoming documents does not register because the instruments need to keep as a policeman! That is you have to bring a folder of documents that you have agreed for years and you say: Leave a policeman!. What is the responsibility? What is included? When the answer? No one knows!

Closing roundtable discussion on what can be done to simplify and accelerate the design of mechanisms allowing documentation. Victor Gunin Inc. “Mechanics growth Leasing officials said little interest in promoting the project: In the usual administration official sits and he is not interested in the economy of the project and did not understand that there will be. Why him? Until today there is a system of governance the more uncertain the same risks higher rates of financing . Alexander Filatov Ltd. AlyansRegionLizing invited to connect Chamber of Commerce and Industry both in Novosibirsk where biznesroientirovannaya Chamber of Commerce and Industry to help solve business problems. On the basis of individual complaints it may lead to nothing said Alexander a need for such structures which would communicate to the authorities but even better would be the government. Chamber of Commerce and Industry should and even obligated to do so because it was created for this purpose . Paul Vysotsky Ltd. KLPInvest suggested that begin with the fact that all major developers with experience in lending including real estate agency and so on based on his own experience first wrote a mechanism as to simplify all these procedure. Because the bureaucrats themselves they do it will never be.

Either way but commercial real estate Sale is actively developing and in spite of everything in the next 3 years in our city a few new interesting projects but in the meantime perhaps the administration in the public sector will be established.

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What Will The Next Real Estate Cycle Look Like?

Many economists consider real estate cycles to be a mirror reflection of the economy. As one of the three major factors of production land labor and capital demand for real estate is a necessary and important part of economic growth. As the population of the world grows these additional people need a place to work sleep eat shop and be entertained which constantly increases the amount of space needed. Many consider real estate a cyclical industry because its demand side is affected by economic cycles and supply historically lags demand.

The price of real estate tends to move in an 18to20year cycle. From one top to the next bottom as from one bottom to the next top about 9 or 10 years usually elapses. The Moons Nodes move backwards or retrograde in an average 18.6year cycle around the Zodiac. Most real estate price tops have occurred with the North Node in Taurus and/or moving into late Aries.

The Nodes are points where the Moons orbital path intersects with the Suns path. The Moons Nodes influence mass psychology which translates economically to ups and downs in interest rates employment and productivity. A real estate calculation called the Brennan Cycle moves in tandem with the Moons Nodes. Where real estate is concerned the 20year cycle of JupiterSaturn conjunctions is also of interest. Jupiter the influence of optimism energizes speculative buying and cautionary Saturn is associated with land.

From an astrological perspective the expectation is that real estate prices should rise when the North Jupitarian Node moves through Cancer the Sign most associated with Home. The North Node arrived in Cancer in April 2000 and moved into Gemini October 2001 when a bubble in stock prices crashed. The Fed lowered interest rates to stimulate the stock market which in turn brought a dramatic rise in home buying creating what is seen now in retrospect as a speculative bubble in real estate.

This latest surge in RE prices peaked in the spring of 2005 when the North Node moved from early Taurus into late Aries. Prior to this latest speculative bubble in real estate prices history shows tops occurred with the North Node in Taurus or Ariesunless distorted by other planetary cycles especially those coinciding with wars or depressions.
Through the 1800s RE price tops were made in 1819 1837 1857 1873 distorted by the great depression of the 1870s and 1893. In 1819 the North Node was in Aries; in 1837 moving from Taurus into Gemini; 1857 moving through Aries into Pisces; 1873 and 1893 moving through Taurus into Gemini.

The next top occurred in 1918 25 years after the top of 1893 with the North Node moving into early Sagittarius. The Federal Reserve System Fed was created by Congress in 1913 shifting control of the US monetary system to a group of bankers and institutionalizing a debtbased money system. Henceforth the bankers of the Fed sold dollars into circulation. In effect the government borrows money from the Feds bankers and sticks the public and/or taxpayers with the bill at evercompounding interest.

Another definitive RE cycle top was made on the cusp of the Great Depression 1929. At this time the North Node was again in Taurus and moving into Aries. Through the roughly 40 years of the Great Depression and the aftermath of World War II real estate prices made no dramatic tops as the Fed now controlled interest rates. And to curb an expected spike of inflation the Roosevelt Administration imposed price controls during and after World War II. Construction of new homes boomed through the late 1940s and 1950s. The next definitive RE top in prices came roughly 4 cycles after 1893 or 80 years later in 1973.

Prior to the creation of the Fed in December 1913 interest rates which drive real estate development and buying were unregulated. The prime duty of the Fed is to control interest rates. Nevertheless RE prices returned to their correlation with the North Node when calculated over longer periods of time as evidenced by the most recent top arriving in 2005 with the North Node moving from early Taurus into late Aries roughly five Lunar Nodal cycles after 1893.

By March 2007 with the Node moving through Pisces there were plenty of economic indications that RE prices were on a determined downswing. Some subprime lenders and borrowers were in trouble. The number of building permits issued nationally had plummeted. In suburban Las Vegas the fastest growing area in the USA 9800 of roughly 22000 homes on the market were empty and desperate home sellers were cutting prices by 45.

Based on past history we can expect the downtrend in housing to turn around when the North Node reaches the constellation opposite Cancer where it usually is when prices rise. That constellation is Capricorn and the North Node is due to enter it in August 2009 20 years after the last low in 1989.

But dont rush headlong into the real estate market in 2009 without being aware of two major reasons the RE cycle may again be distorted and its downside extended.

1. Astrologically Uranus and Pluto will be within orb of a square with Pluto opposite the US natal cluster of Venus Jupiter and Sun in Cancer. And Saturn will be moving through Virgo coming conjunct the US Neptune which is square the US Marsa combination that has coincided with stock market crashes historically. Also in 2009 Pluto and the North Node will conjoin in Capricorn. The combined effect of these astrological patterns bodes ill for the overall economy of which the housing industry is a major part.
2. Because the recent housing price bubble was extended and taken to new record highs its deflation may be extended. We may experience a crash of the dollar and a subsequent spike in inflation causing the Fed to raise interest rates dramatically. Also waiting in the wings is the weatherrelated effects of global warming expected to bring catastrophic storms Hurricane Katrina being a hint.

If the dollar crashes or continues its slide down against other world currencies foreign investment in US assets a major stimulus to the most recent housing bubble will be withdrawn worsening the situation by exacerbating US debtfederal corporate and personal. The worlds monetary system now based on the dollar is likely to go through a wrenching change mainly because US total debt is approaching the point where it will be unrepayable which in turn could lead to a change in the existing Feddominated debtbased monetary system.

When Congress created the Fed in 1913 and institutionalized a debtbased money system it meant that instead of the federal government lending money into the system at no interest bankers lend money into the system at evercompounding interest. In turn this creates a gradual but snowballing rise of inflation as the money to pay the interest must be found and the primary finder of interest is inflation called the hidden tax. What 100 bought in 1913 now costs around 2000.

By March 2007 when the downturn in RE prices became undeniable the North Node was moving through the middle of Pisces. The North Node will enter Capricorn in August 2009 signaling the bottom of this down cycle and move into Sagittarius in March 2011 signaling an expected rise in RE prices. But other factors in the overall economyespecially the debtbased US monetary system snowballing inflation and the likelihood that the dollar will continue to slide or crashcan be expected to distort the RE cycle this time.

During the RE bubble that followed the stock market crash of 20002001 a lot of investment money went into real estate and prices continued to rise after the North Node went into Gemini. As a consequence of the boom and the Feds holding interest rates down the housing bubble was extended beyond the average cyclical top. As a consequence of that extension the RE price bottoms may be extended beyond 2011.

The longer cycles of the outermost planets overwhelm shorter cyclical indicators to concur with welldefined economic turning points. And we are moving toward one that can be expected to bring the most difficult decade since the USA was founded in 1776: Pluto moving though Capricorn a UranusPluto square lasting from 2008 to 2019 forming a grand cross with the natal US SunSaturn square. In August 2009 Pluto will conjoin the North Node in Capricorn with both opposite the USAs natal Jupiter and Venus. This combination can be expected to distort the RE cycle and more importantly bring an atmosphere conducive to changing some basic economic assumptions. This difficult period could be a blessing in disguise.

Our present economy is based on medieval assumptions and we have moved into a period when democracy is on the rise so we are looking at a clash between two philosophical forces: traditional medieval beliefs an unproductive ownership class dominant and the modern move toward more and purer democracy. Currently most of the worlds wealth is owned by less than 1 percent of the worlds population.

We are approaching a time of transformations as huge as those experienced by Native Americans after the arrival of Columbus and then during the years leading up to and through the American and French Revolutions when Pluto was where it will be again during the second decade of the 21st Century.

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