Jill has been appointed independent executor of her father’s estate. She now has cash in hand from the sale of his home. Plus, she has waited the necessary six months for creditors to send in claims after formally notifying them by publication in the newspaper and sending copies of that notice to them in the mail.
Jill has already confirmed that the claims submitted are legitimate billing amounts. The next step for Jill is to group the claims into classes to determine how to pay them. The classes are defined by the probate statute.
First and second class claims, the expenses of the probate and the support award for her 16-year-old sister, will be fully paid, and about $20,000.00 more remains.
There were no claims in classes three through six, but there are $40,000.00 of seventh class claims, the lowest class (credit cards and other unsecured bills). That means that only half of each seventh class claim will be paid.
Jill does not get to choose to pay some of the seventh class claims and skip others. Instead, she pays half of the correct amount owed to each. Next, she will prepare to obtain the creditors’ approval of her planned payments and close the probate case with the court.
For advice about proper after-death legal procedures, either with or without probate, please call our office at (815) 436-1996 for an appointment. ©2013 Gruber Law Office, Ltd.