You’ve just been appointed the personal representative of a decedent and you receive a document called “Letters of Authority for Personal Representative.” This document is really important, because it allows you to stand in the shoes of the individual who has died. In this role, you are responsible for collecting and reporting on all of the decedent’s financial affairs. To say the least, this document gives you the authority to act.
Before getting into the file itself, Darren Findling of The Probate Pro explains what a letter of authority is.
With that explained, let’s get right into this document. Some courts will do this for you, but most require you to file for your letters of authority. If you need to obtain the Letters of Authority for Personal Representative, print out this pdf file. It will have all the required pages and spaces for information. The spaces require you to fill in the pertinent information.
First and foremost, you’ll need to let the probate court know in this document the estate you are serving on behalf of. Working your way down, you’ll fill out the name and address, as well as phone number. Who exactly is this “to?” The address and phone number should belong to the personal representatives. If there is more than one personal representative, all addresses and phone numbers will be required.
After that, you’ll need to fill out the date when you were appointed as the personal representative of the estate. Below that are several check boxes, which are dependent on your role as personal representative. You may have limited authority, or no authority in the estate’s real estate or ownership interests in a business entity that you identified on your acceptance of appointment. There are other ways in which limitations can be placed.
Once you have the date of appointment added, you’ll need to inform when the letters of authority expire. Next to the date is a signature line designated for the judge. Sometimes, a seal will be placed on the document, below the judge’s signature line. This makes the document more authentic.
Below the signature are fields which ask for the name, address, phone and bar number of an attorney. What attorney though? Your attorney. These fields represent the attorney serving the personal representative. Take your completed document to the court and request your Letters of Authority to be issued.
If you want to know more about the Letters of Authority for Personal Representative document or assistance in completing it, give The Probate Pro a call today at (877) YOUR-FIRM.
