About Me:
My definition of a Common Executor is a person agreeing to be an executor without the background to handle a legal entity such as an estate. This person believes an executor does nothing more than transfer the decedent’s personal property and assets to the designated beneficiaries. That is me, Robert Dowling Jr, a Common Executor. My background didn’t prepare me to serve as an executor for an estate. After graduating from UMass/Boston with a degree in Economics, I worked in banking for a few years and then software development. Occasionally, with some knowledge of tax law, I will assist tax professionals during tax season. However, none of this experience would brand me as an expert in estate law or estate planning.
Although I acquired executor experience administering a probate estate, I had no experience administering a well-planned estate. So, my education continues as I am currently near the end of administering my Mother’s well-planned estate. In this context, I will always consider myself a common executor as estate administration is a humbling experience requiring continuous learning. Accordingly, I will continue to share information to help the common executor through this blog.
About the Estates:
In my initial administration, the estate of my Uncle had to go through probate. The estate had good intentions, but experienced many consequences. Currently, my Mother’s well-planned estate went awry because of sibling beneficiary interference. The new articles in The Common Executor will share with you the mistakes I made that allowed the estate to go awry. Additionally, I will also share the hurdles that will face an executor in a well-planned, probate avoidance estate.
About the Blog:
The Common Executor is about helping future executors and those planning their estates to avoid the pitfalls of estate administration. I will share with the readers the experiences I had and the dilemmas I faced and how I handled them. By reading this blog, future executors will be prepared for what is ahead of them. And, for those planning estates, they will find ways to give their executor a smooth administration.
How this Blog Works:
My experiences as an executor are posted under the Estate tab on the main menu of the blog. These posts are mostly written using dialogue to bring emotion to the experience. Hopefully, this approach will help future executors that find themselves in similar situations. The other tabs are more informational in context that relate to the tab title.
Disclaimers:
- Estate law is state specific. Probate laws, for those states that have a probate process, may have some differences from state to state. Furthermore, this blog is strictly based on my experience as an executor of an estate based in Massachusetts administered under Massachusetts estate laws. However, federal taxes are the same no matter what state you are from. Also, for states that do use a probate process, most laws have similarities with minor differences. Regardless, the information in this blog will be useful to anyone serving as an executor no matter where they may live.
- Legal counsel suggested that I keep the people involved in this estate anonymous. This blog is more about the process than the people.
If you need to contact me for any reason, please feel free to contact me using the contact form in the contact page.