Estate settlements

Does settling the estate only mean paying the debts and receiving the inheritance?

Carl, 35, had a wonderful relationship with his father. His father died in the last few weeks, and Carl is in charge of settling the estate. He knows he has to assemble a variety of documents to settle the estate and meet the demands of his father's will. Carl is at a loss. He would like to do this on his own (he knows he can legally do it), but he realizes he needs help. So he decides to contact his notary to find out more about the steps and procedures involved.

When it comes time to talk to his notary, Carl realizes that he has to gather a lot of documents: the lease for the apartment, all the documentation for doing his father's taxes, paying the debts, making an inventory of his father's possessions, to name but a few. The list is very long. When it came time to speak with the notary, he learned that settling an estate could take several months. He thought it would be simple, that all he had to do was look at the will and voila! Everything would be simple... One thing he had forgotten was that the death of a loved one brings with it many emotions.

Through the succession and all the decisions to be made, he is also mourning. The notary also informs Carl that she can help him with a number of steps, to avoid mistakes and end up with very costly disputes, because certain steps have been forgotten or not done according to standards and rights.

When you deal with a notary, he or she can take care of the preliminary steps (service contract, proof of death and will search) on your behalf. Then, they can take care of liquidating the patrimonial rights (family, patrimonial, survivorship), and they can continue to help you with the presentation of options to the heirs. The heirs then decide whether or not to accept the estate.

Once these steps have been completed, the notary goes on to help draw up the estate patrimony, i.e. an inventory of the deceased's assets. After this, the estate can be administered, assets realized and debts paid. Ultimately, the notary is there to help you liquidate the estate, once all other steps have been duly completed.

At DB notaire, we know that, like Carl, you can be a little lost and feel overwhelmed by all the steps involved in settling an estate. That's why we're committed to helping you through the process, in a friendly and caring way that will help ease the burden of what can sometimes be a long and arduous process.