Estate planning consists of making many important decisions, but one of the most vital considerations involves the person taking the most action after you pass away — your estate’s personal representative.
You certainly want to appoint someone whom you trust implicitly. You may think that your spouse would be the best choice just for that reason. Below are a few reasons why your spouse might not be the one whom you should appoint as your personal representative.
They might not survive you
While there is no way of predicting whether any personal representative you choose will outlive you, choosing someone of similar age to you can be risky. An adult child or loved one is often a better choice to guard against the likelihood of this.
Also, it is important to update your estate plan after every life-altering event, e.g., births, deaths, divorces and incapacitating diagnoses of the parties.
It may be more than they can handle
A personal representative must make many serious decisions when carrying out their tasks. Asking that of a recently bereaved spouse who is still actively grieving the loss of their loved one can be too great a task for them to manage at such a time.
Estate management requires a certain skill set
No matter how much you love and trust them, you may realize that your spouse (or son, daughter or sibling) doesn’t have the qualities and skills necessary to carry out the duties of a personal representative.
However, that doesn’t have to rule them out entirely. They can be the named as the personal representative, and you can also set aside funds for them to retain a legal or financial professional to handle the day-to-day tasks of probating your estate. This is often the better decision when failing to appoint a certain loved one as the personal representative would cause hurt feelings or sow dissension among family members.
Complex estates require professional oversight
In some complex situations, you do no one a favor by appointing a personal representative who is clearly overwhelmed. Complicated estates involving land or properties in multiple states, businesses or hard-to-valuate assets can be a full-time job to manage.
Unless the person you appoint has the time and resources to manage it (or is appropriately compensated by the estate), it becomes a thankless job no one wants to assume. A probate and estate litigation attorney can provide much-needed guidance through a stressful time.