An estate administration checklist walks the personal representative through the ordered steps required to settle a deceased person’s estate: securing the will, opening probate, taking control of assets, notifying agencies, paying taxes and debts in the correct priority, distributing what remains, and getting a formal discharge from the court. Most estates take six months to over a year to close. Skipping a step, or doing them out of order, can leave you personally on the hook for the shortfall.
Find the Will and Pull the Paperwork Together
Start with the original will. Photocopies usually won’t satisfy the probate court. Check the decedent’s home safe, their attorney’s office, and any bank safe deposit box. If codicils exist (formal amendments made after the original signing), gather those too.
If no will turns up, the estate is intestate, and state law dictates who inherits and in what shares. The court will appoint an administrator rather than confirming a named executor, and priority for that appointment generally follows next of kin, starting with a surviving spouse.
While you’re at it, collect the documents you’ll be asked for over and over: Social Security numbers for the decedent and every beneficiary, recent tax returns, deeds, vehicle titles, insurance policies, bank and brokerage statements, and any trust documents. Having them organized before your first court date will save you weeks of backtracking.
Order Certified Death Certificates
Nearly every institution you deal with will want its own certified copy. Banks, insurers, the DMV, retirement plan administrators, and government agencies all require originals. Order at least ten to fifteen through the funeral home or your state’s vital records office. Fees typically run $10 to $30 per copy depending on the state.
Don’t cut corners here. Running out mid-process means delays while you order more. Some institutions will accept notarized photocopies; many won’t, and you rarely know which camp a particular company falls into until you’re already there.
Open Probate and Get Your Letters of Authority
You can’t do anything on the estate’s behalf until the court says so. File a petition for probate in the county where the decedent lived. Filing fees vary widely by jurisdiction, generally $50 to over $400.
Once the court accepts the petition and validates the will, it issues Letters Testamentary (if there’s a will) or Letters of Administration (if there isn’t). This is your proof of authority. Banks, title companies, and financial institutions will ask for it before letting you touch any of the decedent’s accounts. Keep the original safe and carry certified copies to every meeting.
Uncontested filings often produce letters within a few weeks. Contested wills or messy family situations can stretch this phase out for months.
Set Up the Estate as Its Own Financial Entity
The estate is a separate taxpayer from the person who died, and it needs its own tax ID. Apply for an Employer Identification Number through the IRS using Form SS-4. The application is free and can be done online.1Internal Revenue Service. Information for Executors
File IRS Form 56 to formally notify the IRS that a fiduciary relationship exists. This tells the agency you’re authorized to act on the decedent’s tax matters and routes correspondence to you instead of the decedent’s old address.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56
With your letters and the EIN in hand, open a dedicated estate bank account. All estate income (rent, dividends, interest) goes in; all estate expenses come out. Never mix estate funds with your personal money. Commingling is one of the fastest paths to a breach-of-fiduciary-duty claim, and courts treat it seriously.
Inventory Every Asset and Every Debt
Cataloging what the decedent owned and owed is the most time-consuming part of the job and one of the most important. The court, the beneficiaries, and the IRS all need an accurate picture.
Financial and Tangible Property
Contact each bank, brokerage, and retirement plan administrator with a certified death certificate and your Letters Testamentary to get balances and see how the account is titled. Review real estate deeds to determine whether property was held solely, jointly with rights of survivorship, or in a trust.
Assets with a named beneficiary, including life insurance, retirement accounts, and accounts titled “payable on death” or “transfer on death,” pass directly outside probate. Track them for tax purposes, but don’t distribute them through the estate.
For tangible property such as jewelry, art, antiques, or collectible vehicles, hire a qualified appraiser. Every asset must be valued at fair market value on the date of death. The IRS uses that valuation for estate tax purposes, and beneficiaries use it as their cost basis if they later sell what they inherited.3Internal Revenue Service. Estate Tax
Digital Assets
Email accounts, social media profiles, cryptocurrency wallets, online banking, digital photo libraries, and domain names are all estate property that’s easy to miss. Nearly every state has adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which gives executors authority over digital property, but only if the will or other estate planning documents specifically grant that access. Without explicit authorization, most platforms will refuse to hand over credentials, and federal privacy laws can make unauthorized access illegal even for a well-meaning executor.
Check whether the decedent set up legacy contacts or inactive account managers through services like Google or Apple. If not, you may need a court order to reach certain accounts. Log each digital asset the way you would a bank account: platform, approximate value, and access status.
Safe Deposit Boxes
Access rules for a safe deposit box vary by state. Some states allow a person named in the will or a close heir to open the box before probate, but usually only to retrieve the will, burial instructions, or a cemetery deed. Everything else stays locked until your letters issue. A bank representative must be present, and you may pay a drilling fee if there’s no key. Document every item inside.
Debts
On the other side of the ledger, identify every obligation: mortgage balances, car loans, credit card bills, personal loans, medical bills from final care, and the funeral bill itself. Pull a credit report through one of the major bureaus to catch anything you don’t know about. Debts don’t disappear at death. They become claims against the estate, and you’re responsible for paying them from estate funds in the correct order before any beneficiary receives a dollar.
Notify Agencies, Employers, and Service Providers
Several agencies need to hear from you quickly. Delays can trigger benefit overpayments you’ll have to return, or worse, identity theft.
- Social Security Administration: Funeral homes typically report the death, but if one wasn’t involved or the report didn’t go through, call SSA directly. Benefits cannot be paid for the month of death, so any payment received after that point must be returned.4USAGov. Report the Death of a Social Security or Medicare Beneficiary
- Department of Veterans Affairs: If the decedent was a veteran, report the death to stop benefit payments and ask about burial benefits and survivor pensions. Surviving spouses may automatically receive a burial allowance once the VA is notified.5Veterans Affairs. How to Report the Death of a Veteran to VA
- U.S. Postal Service: Forward the decedent’s mail to your address. You must do this in person at a Post Office with proof that you’re the appointed executor or administrator. A death certificate alone isn’t enough.6United States Postal Service. How to Stop or Forward Mail for the Deceased
- Employer: Contact HR for any final paycheck, accrued vacation pay, or unpaid bonuses. Ask about group life insurance, pension benefits, and the balance of any employer-sponsored retirement account. Beneficiary designations on 401(k) plans and similar accounts control who receives those funds.
Then work through utility companies, phone and internet providers, subscription services, and insurers. Cancel what you can, keep active what you must (utilities at a property you’re maintaining for sale, for instance), and log every call: date, company, representative’s name, and outcome. That paper trail protects you if a company later claims it never received notice.
File the Tax Returns
Estate administration typically involves up to three separate tax filings, each with its own deadline. Miss one and the penalties come out of the estate, or in bad cases, out of you.
Final Individual Return: Form 1040
File a final Form 1040 covering the decedent’s income from January 1 through the date of death. It’s due on the normal April deadline of the following year. If the decedent was married, the surviving spouse can file jointly for that year. If a refund is due and there’s no surviving spouse, attach Form 1310 to claim it.7Internal Revenue Service. Filing a Final Federal Tax Return for Someone Who Has Died
Estate Income Return: Form 1041
The estate itself is a taxpayer. If it earns more than $600 in gross income during administration from rent, interest, dividends, or capital gains, you must file Form 1041.8Internal Revenue Service. File an Estate Tax Income Tax Return The return is also required, regardless of income, if any beneficiary is a nonresident alien.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041
Federal Estate Tax Return: Form 706
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 per individual ($30,000,000 for a married couple). Estates below the threshold don’t owe federal estate tax and generally don’t need to file Form 706.10Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Estates that exceed it must file Form 706 within nine months of the date of death, though you can request an automatic six-month extension using Form 4768.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706 The top federal rate is 40%.
Federal isn’t the whole story. Roughly a dozen states and the District of Columbia impose their own estate tax, often at much lower exemption thresholds. Oregon’s kicks in at $1,000,000; Massachusetts starts at $2,000,000. A handful of states also impose an inheritance tax, paid by the person receiving the assets rather than the estate. Maryland has both. State-level obligations catch many families off guard because the federal exemption is so much higher.
Publish Creditor Notice and Pay in the Right Order
Most states require you to publish notice to creditors in a local newspaper, usually once a week for three consecutive weeks. The notice announces your appointment, gives your contact information, and sets a deadline for claims. The window varies by state, commonly three to six months from first publication. Creditors who miss the deadline are generally barred from collecting.
Send direct written notice to every creditor you know about or can reasonably identify. Newspaper notice alone isn’t enough if you’re aware of a specific debt.
When estate assets can’t cover every claim, debts get paid in a legally prescribed priority order. Exact rankings vary by state, but the general pattern is consistent:
- Administration costs: court fees, attorney fees, appraiser fees, and your executor compensation.
- Funeral and burial expenses.
- Family allowances and exempt property set aside for a surviving spouse and minor children.
- Federal priority debts: income taxes, estate taxes, and other obligations with priority under federal law.
- Final medical expenses from the decedent’s last illness.
- State priority debts: state taxes and other state-law priorities.
- All remaining unsecured claims: credit cards, personal loans, and general debts.
Claims within the same class are paid proportionally if funds run short. Never pay a lower-priority creditor before satisfying higher ones. If you do, you can be personally liable for the difference.
Distribute the Assets and Close the Estate
Once every debt is paid, every tax return filed, and every claim period closed, you can distribute what’s left. Follow the will if there is one; for intestate estates, state law sets the shares.
Before handing anything over, prepare a final accounting showing every dollar in and every dollar out: income earned, debts paid, taxes filed, fees charged, and the balance available for distribution. Beneficiaries and the court both need to see it, and it’s your best defense against future claims that you mishandled the estate.
Have each beneficiary sign a receipt and release form when they collect their inheritance. That document confirms they got what they were owed and releases you from further liability. Without signed releases, a beneficiary can come back years later claiming they were shortchanged.
File the final accounting and signed receipts with the probate court and request a formal discharge. Once the court approves, your duties are legally over.
Executor Compensation and Personal Liability
Serving as executor is real work, and you’re entitled to be paid for it. Many states set compensation by statute as a percentage of the estate’s value, generally 1% to 5%, with larger estates often falling at the lower end. Some states let the court determine a “reasonable” fee based on the complexity of the work. You can waive compensation entirely, which some family members choose to do.
If you take a fee, the IRS treats it as taxable income. For a one-time executor role, report it on Schedule 1 of your Form 1040. If you serve as a professional fiduciary, it’s self-employment income on Schedule C.12Internal Revenue Service. Publication 559 – Survivors, Executors, and Administrators
The liability side deserves serious attention. As a fiduciary, you’re held to the standard of a reasonably prudent person managing someone else’s property. Courts have surcharged executors for paying themselves excessive fees, making risky investments with estate funds, missing tax deadlines, failing to collect debts owed to the estate, and distributing assets before all creditors were paid. Commingling estate money with personal funds is treated as a near-automatic breach. If things get complicated, hiring a probate attorney and an accountant isn’t optional. Their fees are a legitimate estate expense, and far cheaper than the personal liability you might face from a preventable mistake.
When You May Not Need Full Probate
Not every estate needs the full process. Most states offer simplified procedures for estates below a certain value threshold, and checking eligibility before you file for regular probate is always worth the effort.
A small estate affidavit lets you collect a decedent’s property by presenting a sworn statement to whoever holds the assets, without ever going to court. Dollar limits vary enormously by state, from as low as $10,000 to over $200,000. Those thresholds usually apply only to probate assets, so property with a named beneficiary or joint ownership doesn’t count toward the cap. Most states require a waiting period after death, commonly 30 to 45 days, before the affidavit can be used.
Summary administration is a streamlined court process that skips some of the formalities of regular probate, such as appointing a personal representative. It’s available in many states for estates that fall below a higher ceiling than the affidavit threshold. Either route can save significant time and money when the estate qualifies.