How to Obtain Beneficiary Assent when Preparing Accounts for Allowance

In the process of closing the decedent’s estate, while preparing accounts for allowance by the probate court, you will need to obtain the assent (a form of written agreement to the account) of each interested party to the probate account.

The court then typically allows (approves) the account on the basis of those assents without notice (giving notice to each interested party in a manner set forth by the court), which saves you the time and expense of service of a citation.

When you obtained a receipt from a beneficiary for distribution, you hopefully also obtained an assent form for all of your accounts as executor if the distribution fully satisfied the interest of that beneficiary under the will. For those assents you didn’t obtain, now’s the time to send to each beneficiary the following:

• A copy of the account(s).

  
  



• An assent form (which you can obtain from your probate court), sometimes called an Assent and Waiver of Notice. Ask the beneficiary to sign this, indicating that he or she assents to the probate court’s allowance of your account(s) and requesting that the court allow the account(s) and (in certain instances) waive receipt of notice that the account is being presented to the court for allowance.

  
  

Be sure to include an extra copy of the assent form for the beneficiary to keep, and a self-addressed, stamped envelope, if you want a prompt reply from your beneficiary.

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Source:http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-obtain-beneficiary-assent-when-preparing-ac.html