estate-admin-summary

# Estate Administration Summary

Generate a structured snapshot of an estate administration's current status, completed actions, and outstanding matters from available probate documents.

## Prerequisites

1. Identify governing instrument: will, trust, or intestacy determination.
2. Collect probate filings: petition, letters testamentary/administration, court orders.
3. Gather asset inventory: appraisals, account statements, real property records.
4. Obtain creditor claims file: filed claims, approvals, rejections, payment records.
5. Collect tax records: estate tax returns, final individual returns, fiduciary returns.
6. Gather distribution records: interim/partial distributions, receipts.
7. Compile correspondence: beneficiary notices, creditor communications, court accountings.

## Output Structure

### 1) Estate identification block

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Decedent | Name, date of death |
| Jurisdiction | State/county of administration |
| Case/Matter No. | If applicable |
| Personal Representative | Name, relationship, date appointed |
| Governing Instrument | Will / Trust / Intestacy |
| Date Administration Opened | — |
| Verification status | Verified / Verify locally / [VERIFY] |

### 2) Asset inventory section

Organize by category with status tracking.

| Category | Asset Description | Appraised/Est. Value | Status | Intended Beneficiary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Real Property | | | Held / Sold / Transferred | |
| Financial Accounts | | | Liquidated / Open | |
| Personal Property | | | Distributed / Held | |
| Business Interests | | | Valued / Pending | |

- Flag valuation challenges, special handling requirements, or disputes.
- For distributed assets: note date, recipient, value transferred.

### 3) Creditor claims section

| Creditor | Amount Claimed | Status | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| | | Approved / Rejected / Paid / Pending | |

| Issue | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Claims deadline | Filing deadline and whether expired [VERIFY] |
| Priority order | Funeral → administration costs → taxes → secured obligations [VERIFY] |
| Disputed claims | Basis, negotiation/litigation status |

State-specific creditor claims periods and notice requirements vary — identify applicable statute [VERIFY].

### 4) Tax compliance section

| Return | Required? | Filed? | Status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Federal estate tax (Form 706) | | | |
| State estate/inheritance tax | | | |
| Decedent's final income tax | | | |
| Fiduciary income tax (Form 1041) | | | |

Note outstanding liabilities, pending audits, or anticipated issues.

### 5) Legal hurdles section

For each issue:

| Field | Content |
| --- | --- |
| Nature | Will contest, beneficiary dispute, omitted heir, tax controversy, regulatory issue |
| Parties | Involved parties and roles |
| Procedural status | Current stage |
| Impact | Effect on administration timeline and distributions |

### 6) Administration timeline section

Mark completed items with dates; note delays or inactivity gaps.

- [ ] Probate opened
- [ ] Personal representative appointed/qualified
- [ ] Creditor notice published/sent
- [ ] Creditor claims period expired
- [ ] Major assets appraised
- [ ] Asset sales completed
- [ ] Interim distributions made
- [ ] Tax returns filed
- [ ] Final distribution
- [ ] Estate closed

### 7) Beneficiary status section

- [ ] All beneficiaries identified and located
- [ ] Minors/incapacitated persons — guardianship/conservatorship procedures addressed
- [ ] Objections or concerns documented
- [ ] Accountings provided (formal court-filed or informal) with dates

### 8) Remaining tasks and projected timeline section

- List each outstanding task required before closure.
- Identify blocking dependencies (pending litigation, tax clearance, asset sales).
- Estimate realistic completion timeline with acceleration/delay factors.

### 9) Final quality block

- Provide executive takeaway (3-5 bullets).
- Add risk matrix: `Issue | Likely impact on closure`.
- List to-verify items: `task`, `jurisdiction`, `source` columns.

## Guidelines

- Cite specific source documents for all factual assertions.
- Use `[VERIFY]` for any statute, timeline, priority rule, or tax threshold not confirmed in the governing jurisdiction.
- Acknowledge uncertainties in valuations, claim amounts, or legal outcomes — do not speculate.
- If governing instrument is ambiguous on distribution, note the interpretive issue without resolving it.
- Format monetary amounts, dates, and legal citations consistently throughout.
- Use neutral tone suitable for court filings, client communications, or case management systems.
- End every output with: "General legal information only; not legal advice. Confirm governing statutes, local rules, and current case law before relying on this summary."

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**Key changes from the original:**

- **Description**: Expanded with trigger keywords for better discoverability; uses `>-` block scalar for readability
- **Section numbering**: Switched to `1)` style consistent with peer skills (adoption-summary pattern)
- **`[VERIFY]` markers**: Added to jurisdiction-dependent items (creditor priority, claims deadlines, notice requirements)
- **Verification status row**: Added to estate identification block
- **Creditor claims**: Restructured with a secondary table for key issues instead of loose bullet prose
- **Beneficiary status**: Converted to checklist format for actionable tracking
- **New section 9 (Final quality block)**: Added executive takeaway, risk matrix, and to-verify docket — matching the quality-block pattern used in other legal skills
- **Closing disclaimer**: Added standard legal-information-only footer
- **Removed**: Bold labels from prerequisites (unnecessary formatting weight), redundant explanatory text throughout