Tips and Tricks: Distributing estate assets

AvidLaw Probate is designed to save you time across the entire probate process. One time-saving tool we’ve built into AvidLaw Probate helps you quickly list assets as you prepare the appropriate distribution documents. To take full advantage of this tool, you need to plan in advance.
As you list the inventory, you should keep in mind how the various items will be distributed. This awareness will allow you to identify items of property in the inventory in the same way that they will need to be identified upon distribution. Real property should be identified by its legal description. Any specific items that are listed in the will or in a separate writing should be identified in the inventory the same way they are identified in such documents. Groups of property that will be distributed together can sometimes be listed in the same groups in the inventory. For instance, if a stamp collection will be distributed to an individual, you will save time by identifying the collection as an item in the inventory, rather than as part of “items stored in the attic.”
When you use AvidLaw Probate to prepare the Inventory and Appraisement, you will group the various items as community or separate property and as real or personal property. In addition, you will identify each item with a description and a value. If you have appropriately identified each item in the inventory with a view towards its eventual distribution, you will often be able to use the same description and, perhaps, the same value, at the time of distribution. In the distribution documents, you again need to identify each item with a description and value. Each item also needs to be identified as separate or community property and as real or personal property.
AvidLaw Probate allows you to quickly use the information for an inventory item as a starting point for an item being distributed. In many cases, copying this information is all you will need to do to identify the item being distributed. In other cases, some editing of the description or other information will be required, but the process will usually be relatively fast and painless if your inventory descriptions anticipate the eventual division and distribution of the property.
On the other hand, if you have not planned ahead, then you will probably take longer preparing the distribution documents. For example, if all furniture is grouped together in the inventory, but the dining room set goes to John and the living room furniture goes to Sally, then each of these sets will need to be described separately when it is distributed.
As you draft any distribution document, you can follow these 3 easy steps to copy the inventory information for use in the distribution document:
1. To identify the item being distributed, click Yes when asked if you want to copy the asset description from the inventory.
2. Select the correct asset from the drop down menu.
3. If needed, edit the inventory description or other information to match the actual distribution.