Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Arkansas

Accounting by Executor

Not enough information to answer the question. It may seem simplistic, but if the value of the estate is less than 100K, I would forget about it. If it is more than 500K, seek an accounting. Also, if the Executor is NOT a beneficiary, then he should not have any reason to seek anything other than closure. If the Executor is both a beneficiary, the estate has some value +500K and you cannot tell what he has been doing, demand an accounting.

Waiver of accounting

The beneficiaries often waive the accounting, and it should speed up the process of distribution. However, you may not want to do so--it really depends on how much you trust the executor.

The accounting shows all incoming and outgoing money, and it must balance to the penny. It assures the beneficiaries and the court that no money has been wasted and that no money is missing.

If you're unsure about waiving it, don't feel pressure to do so. It's required of the executor in California (and probably is in your state as well), so the estate doesn't pay any less if it's waived.

Do you trust your sibling with that much money?

Trust has two parts: a) honesty, b) competence.

SOP? Well, not exactly. It certainly is done frequently. It DOES save the executor (and possibly the estate) a lot of time tracking pennies and reporting them to the court to waive the accountings.

Here's what I'd do, since there's a little bit of doubt in your mind, but not enough to suspect fraud. Ask sibling to send you a list of accounts and balances -- better yet, a photocopy of most recent statements from each account that had decedent's name on it, because you ought to know for your own financial accounting what's coming down the pike. But also offer that you'll then waive accounting, to ease sibling's burden to the court.

If what you get seems to be all, feel free to sign.

The fact is that the system seems to be loosey-goosey and you really must trust the person executing the will because even court supervision isn't air-tight. So far as I know, there isn't enough tracking of the use of the court's orders to know if an executor collected something but didn't put it into the estate pot. That's why the informal method looks good to me.

I agree with the lawyer who said that if it's over $500,000 (or whatever YOU think is a lot of money), go ahead and have them do the accounting -- an estate that large can afford to have real accountants or lawyers with well-trained paralegals do the work thoroughly and neatly. (But have exec. keep an eye on those fees!)