Who Are All of these People and What Are They Doing In My Estate Plan?

Who Are All of These People and What Are They Doing In My Estate Plan?

When creating your estate plan, there will be many different roles that people will fill. They can be the same people or they can be different people under each document depending upon your desires. These roles have different names.

1. Your Agent

Your Agent is a person acting for you on your behalf. You appoint an agent under your Power of Attorney to handle your financial matters for you. That agent may be able to act presently, or may only be able to act at the occurrence of a specific event (such as you become disabled). There are a number of different types of Powers of Attorney. There are general powers of attorney which grant your agent to handle most of your financial life. If that General Power of Attorney is also a Durable Power of Attorney, then it doesn't terminate if you become disabled. A Specific Power of Attorney allows your Agent to act for you in a very specific case, such as closing on a house. Medical Powers of Attorney also appoint an Agent to act for you if you need them to make medical decisions for you because you can't. In Virginia we include this in an Advance Medical Care Directive, which also allows you to make some of your own end of life decisions in advance. Powers of Attorney expire when you do, for the most part. Your passing terminates Agency and the Agent can no longer act on your behalf. The power to deal with your finances transfers to either your Trustee, if you have a Trust, or to your Executor, or to both.

2. Your Trustee

If you have a Trust, you will appoint a Trustee. Often this is yourself while you are living. The job of the Trustee is to hold the Trust assets and manage them for the beneficiaries of the trust. Often this is also you for your lifetime. After you pass, your Successor Trustee, a person you have named in the Trust to succeed you, will take over. That Successor Trustee will pay your final bills and then pay out the remainder to the people that you have directed, your beneficiaries. They may continue to hold assets in Trust for a period of time, particularly if your beneficiaries are young or disabled.

3. Your Executor

Your Executor is the one who handles any assets passing to a beneficiary under your will. If you don't have a will, then this person is called an Administrator. A catch all referring to either is a Personal Representative. If you have a Trust, usually the will directs the Executor to pay over any assets that didn't make it into the trust to the Trustee of the Trust. If you don't have a Trust, the Executor will pay your last bills and expenses and pay out the remainder to your beneficiaries. In Virginia, if you have over $75,000 that is not in a trust and in accounts without named beneficiaries then Probate is required. Your Personal Representative is responsible with taking your estate through the probate process, which is overseen by the courts. .

Disclaimer: The information provided on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply can vary depending on your circumstances. Viewing this page or contacting us through the website does not create an attorney–client relationship.