01.21.09
Privacy in Probate
Privacy has been a hot button issue in recent years for good reason, yet the probate process opens all the intimate financial details of a deceased person’s property to public scrutiny. Well, now it’s possible to avoid publicity under the new Massachusetts Probate Code.
Certainly a personal representative is required to inform the estate beneficiaries. He or she must prepare an inventory within 3 months after appointment and mail it to the beneficiaries. It MAY also be filed with the court. [3-706] Thus public disclosure of assets may be avoided. Conveyancers may object and request an inventory to connect the chain of title for real estate. However, title issues should be satisfied by a deed of distribution under 3-907. Deeds of distribution are uncommon under the old practice in Massachusetts, but may become common under the code.
A formal closing of an estate would require filing of an accounting and inventory for public record. However, if the personal representative does not feel the need of a final judgment before distribution, he or she can make an informal closure by filing a closing statement under 3-1003. The personal representative must make a verified statement that an accounting has been sent to interested parties, that the time for filing claims by creditors has expired and that the estate has been full administered. Six months after filing objections are barred. In a simple situation with the personal representative being a family member, the informal process may suffice. An independent personal representative may want the comfort of a formal judgment on closing and may forgo the privacy protection.
So, by sending an inventory and accounting to the beneficiaries and closing by a sworn statement, privacy of family finances can be preserved under the new code.