| Imagine if one day, your friend or your siblings | | | | beloved IRB of clamping you down is very high.c. |
| ask you to be his/her executor in his/her will. | | | | Advertise notice to creditors - Executor will need |
| What comes first in your mind? "Hurray! He must | | | | to publish a notice in national newspaper and wait |
| have trusted me so much!" or "OK, whatever... ". | | | | for 2 months if there's any creditors that come |
| Before I was a Will Writing Agent, I was very lost | | | | forward to demand debts from you.d. Liaise with |
| about this term "Executor", in my mind, it's | | | | Government Departments - As said earlier, for |
| someone I must have trust and confidence to | | | | land, house or property, executor will need to |
| handle my finances in the event of death. | | | | liaise with the land office, for motor vehicles, it will |
| Looking deep into it, trust and honesty is the vital | | | | be JPJ, if income tax matters, it will be IRB. These |
| criteria, however, a duties of an executor requires | | | | are the three areas he/she need to do the |
| more than these two soft skills. Let's look at the | | | | running arounde. Locate, collect, assemble, call in all |
| "complete" duties of an executor. | | | | assets - this is a treasure hunting process. It can |
| Duties of executor and trustee:a. Locate your | | | | be long or short depending on how good "book |
| WILLb. Gather Documents & Informationc. | | | | keeping" or "inventory listing" you made.f. Maintain |
| Appoint & Liaise with Lawyerd. Attend Court | | | | separate trust account - if you act as an |
| hearinge. Submit tax return & obtain income tax | | | | executor/trustee, all monies will be open under |
| clearancef. Liaise with bankers/financier/creditorsg. | | | | your name. But not many people will tell the bank |
| Advertise notice to creditorsh. Insure & Protect | | | | that you don't own this money. Its money you |
| assetsi. Liaise with Government Departmentsj. | | | | hold in trust of someone else. Please take note.g. |
| Locate, collect, assemble, call in all assetsk. Value | | | | Determine priority of creditors - if the testator |
| & liquidate assetsl. Maintain separate trust | | | | owes OCBC housing loan of RM 300,000 and |
| accountm. Invest assetsn. Compile list of | | | | CITIBANK personal loan of RM 3,000. How do you |
| creditorso. Determine priority of creditorsp. Pay | | | | choose which creditor to pay first? Well, the rule |
| Debts/Liabilitiesq. Detailed Accounting for | | | | is loan with securities, means, OCBC's loan must |
| Beneficiariesr. Pay Estate Taxs. Distribute Assets | | | | be cleared first, then secondly, the CITIBANK |
| Testamentary Trustt. Make funeral arrangements | | | | loan.h. Pay Debts/Liabilities - Executors will have to |
| Looking at it, let's drill down into items that are | | | | liquidate the testator's asset to clear debt. Or ask |
| the most troublesome. From our statistic, the | | | | from the beneficiary to pay first, if property is |
| most troublesome or the item most executor will | | | | involved (in case beneficiaries don't want to sell |
| ignore are and a brief explanation on that.a. | | | | the property)i. Detailed Accounting for |
| Gather Documents & Information - If your will | | | | Beneficiaries - Ok, how many of us are good in |
| spells, "All my assets to my children", well, good | | | | accounting?j. Pay Estate Tax - this is a whole new |
| luck to your executor in his/her effort to HUNT | | | | experience. Even if testator has passed away, if |
| down your assets. You can have 4 savings | | | | his/her estate is gaining a return, then by law, he |
| accounts, 6 FDs, 3 houses. Some of the financial | | | | she must pay estate income tax. Who files it? |
| institution will need to have the exact saving | | | | Executor / trustee. |
| accounts number and FD numbers in order for | | | | Well, there's a lot to do as an Executor. So now |
| them to proceed. As for houses, the authorities | | | | when someone ask me if I can be their |
| will need the land title (not the house address | | | | Executor... my answer is clear, "No, because I am |
| number).b. Submit tax return & obtain income tax | | | | not capable of handling such a huge responsibility. |
| clearance - this is the process people think it's | | | | You can always select a TRUST company to act |
| easy. It's not. Why? If your assets derive is from | | | | on our behalf. |
| income that you didn't declare, chances of our | | | | |