How You Can Choose the Right Personal Representative for Your Estate

Selecting the right personal representative for your estate helps you ensure all matters of your estate will be administered smoothly after your passing. But how do you know who is the right person for the role?

Here are a few considerations to keep in mind.

• Responsibility: Anyone who assumes the role of personal representative should be responsible and trustworthy. This is the most important characteristic for anyone administering an estate. There is a lot of paperwork and a variety of tasks that must be performed in a timely manner, so responsibility and punctuality are crucial to the job.
• Financial standing: Choose someone who is on top of their own personal finances and shows good financial judgment. Because a lot of the job involves performing financial tasks such as filing taxes and paying creditors, it is important to choose someone who has shown they are fiscally responsible.
• Age: If your chosen personal representative is not significantly younger than you, you should name at least one successor who is. In this way, you will be covered in the event your personal representative of choice is unable to fill the role for any reason.
• Personality: Consider the personality of your potential personal representative and whether there is likely to be any drama involved with their selection. Do they get along with everyone else in your family? Is there any chance they will abuse the responsibility of being your personal representative? Make sure you choose someone who is emotionally stable, grounded and mature.

For more tips when selecting a personal representative for your estate, contact an experienced Tampa, FL estate planning attorney at BaumannKangas Estate Law.