You are named as the executor of your parents’ estate. This means that it is your job to read the estate plan, determine what will be required, take an inventory of the assets your parents own and work to distribute those assets to the right beneficiaries. You’re in charge of administering the estate, and the estate plan simply tells you what your parents wanted you to do.
You may think that this means it’s time to call your family and gather everyone together for a will reading. This is how the beneficiaries will find out what they’re going to inherit, even if you can’t transfer the assets to them yet. But do you actually need to set up this meeting?
An outdated tactic
Will readings used to be common, and this is the reason that you may see them in books, movies or television shows. When illiteracy rates were high, most people could not read an estate plan, so there was no way for them to know what they inherited. They had to go to a will reading so that someone else could actually read the documents to them.
But in 2024, this no longer happens. Instead, as the estate executor, you can just make copies of these important documents and distribute them in person or by mail. The beneficiaries do need to find out what they’re going to inherit, and they can read about it in the estate plan, but you just have to provide them with the documentation. They can do all of the reading on their own, so an official will reading is not required.
That being said, you’re just starting your duties as the estate executor. Be sure you know what legal steps to take.