Publisher's Note:  This is the last in a series of personal finance columns on the subject of being the executor of an estate.  These columns are based on my own personal experiences in this regard.  Individuals should consult a professional advisor and take their own circumstances into account.  

Last year, I wrote a six part series entitled The Executor's Song.  The series was basically a layperson's guide to being the executor of an estate.

Now that my task is over,  I have a few final thoughts to share with you.  So today, I deliver the long promised conclusion to this series.  I think you will find it helpful.

First........

Don't Make This Mistake!

In part 3 of this series, I stressed the importance of submitting a change of address to the post office so that you will begin receiving the deceased's mail.

I want to amend / clarify that statement at this time.

Do not, under any circumstances, have the deceased's mail forwarded to your home or business address.  Rent a post office box at a Mailboxes etc. store in a nearby town, and have the mail forwarded there instead. 

This if important for several reasons. 

If you have mail forwarded to your address instead of a post office box, the world of solicitors will soon somehow come to believe that the deceased is still alive, and living with you.   I don't fully understand how this happens -- I just know that it does.  You'll just have to trust me on this.  

And believe me, you don't want the deceased "living" with you.  Yesterday, I wrote a column about telemarketers.  Because I was stupid enough to have the deceased's mail forwarded to my address,  I now receive telemarketing calls for the deceased, as well as junk mail.

If I had rented a post office box instead, I could have just cancelled the box when I no longer wanted to receive the deceased's mail, and more importantly, the world would not think the deceased had taken up residence with me.

Why not rent the post office in your home town?  Well, call me paranoid, but I want the trail between the deceased any myself to be as cold as possible once I cancel the post office box. 

There are other important reasons for renting the box.   There is certain mail you may not wish to receive after a period of time -- annoying letters from creditors, for example.   Turn off the post office box and you turn off the mail and the trail. 

(By the way, creditors may try sending you mail that requires your signature as proof of delivery.  You are under no obligation to accept and sign for such mail.  Ask your mailman who the mail is from, and if you don't want it, don't accept it.)

Finally, and this may be a rather unusual problem, I am not only receiving mail addressed to the deceased, but just about everybody else who lived in his apartment building as well.  

Thanks to the incompetence / laziness of the post office, I am now receiving the mail of any person having the same first or last name as the deceased who lives in the same apartment building as the deceased.  

I have tried taking the mail back to the post office and explaining that the mail is not mind and should not have been forwarded to me -- that there are real, living people who are not getting their mail.  They take the mail back and promise to fix the problem.   Two weeks later, the same mail shows up in my mailbox a second time, having made the roundtrip from Atlanta to Philadelphia and back again.

To make matters worse, these other people have are also now "living"  with me -- much of their mail comes directly to me, without being forwarded.  (I wonder if I can claim them as dependents?) 

But I think I have figured out a way to solve the problem.  I am going to fill out change of address forms for each of these people who are now "living" at my address to have the mail forwarded back to them at their actual addresses.    When mail for somebody else comes to my address,  the post office will forward it back to the correct address.   Of course, when it gets back there, it will get forwarded here.   When it gets back here, it will get forwarded there.  When it gets back there, it will get forwarded here.  When it gets back here, it will get forwarded there.   Did I mention that when it gets back there, it will get forwarded here?

The mail will eventually disintegrate from being handled so much, or the postal do loop will cause the world to implode.  Either way, it's not my problem.  

So take my advice -- rent a box and charge it to the estate.  It is well worth the expense.

Dealing With Debt

On a more serious subject.....

If the deceased left debts behind, don't automatically assume that the estate is liable for the debt.  In some states, creditors have 90 days after a legal notice is published in the paper to make a claim against the estate.  If the creditor does not make a claim within the 90 day period, the debt is erased.  Consult your probate attorney on this.  Your probate attorney will post the appropriate legal notice that starts the 90 day clock ticking.  You may end up saving thousands of dollars, and it's perfectly legal.

Of course, this doesn't apply to mortgages -- you will have a hell of a time closing on the deceased's property if you don't use the proceeds to pay of the mortgage note.  But for credit card debt and other types of debt, the estate may not be liable.

Income Tax Returns

Don't assume that you are required to file an income tax return for the deceased.  Depending on the deceased's marital status and how much income the deceased earned in the final year of his or her life, you may not need to file an income tax return for the deceased.  Check with your accountant on this.

Part 6: Closing the Estate and Other "Stuff"

Wisdom By Alan Luber