Alaska Court System Self-Help

The Personal Representative must pay the Homestead Allowance, Family Allowance  and Exempt Property before all other claims, including creditor claims, debts, taxes and costs of probate. You can watch a very short presentation on the Special Protections for Family Members.

If there is not enough property in the estate to pay all of these special payments, pay the Homestead Allowance first, pay the Family Allowance second and distribute the Exempt Property next. Even if the person who died made a will that disinherited the spouse or children, the Personal Representative needs to pay the allowances and exempt property out of the estate. The spouse and children may disclaim their interest in receiving any allowances and exempt property, and would need to file a document with the court stating this.

After paying the allowances and exempt property, pay the creditor claims. Once those are paid, you can make distributions. If you are sure that there is enough property in the estate to pay Allowances, Exempt Property, and creditor claims, you can transfer property at any time to the persons who are supposed to receive it. If you are not sure, you should wait until you have paid these before transferring any property. You must complete all distributions or make arrangements for future distributions before you close the probate.

Before you transfer property, you may choose to send a Proposal for Distribution to the interested persons affected by your planned distributions. A person has 30 days from the date of mailing (if you mail the Proposal) or the date of delivery (if you hand-deliver the Proposal) to object to the kind or value of the property that they will receive. If the person does not object within this time period, they cannot object later. A Proposal for Distribution is not necessary but if the probate has been contested or there has been little communication between the Personal Representative and the beneficiaries or heirs, it may be a good idea.

You can file:

Final Accounting and Proposed Distribution, P-380

A Proposal for Distribution should say the following:

• How the Personal Representative intends to distribute the property.
• The names of each person who will receive property.
• The property each person will receive.
• The value of the property each person will receive.
• That the person has 30 days from the date of mailing (if the Proposal was mailed) or the date of delivery (if the Proposal was hand-delivered) to object to the kind or value of the property. If the person does not object within this time period, they cannot object later.

Mail by first-class mail or hand-deliver the Proposal to all persons you name in the Proposal, as well as any other interested persons who the Proposal might affect.

You must transfer title of each item of property to the person who is supposed to receive the property under the Will or through intestacy. The process is different for each type of property and may involve things such as preparing a new deed, changing the account title or giving the person a Deed of Distribution that proves they are the rightful owner. For information on how to transfer specific types of property, see Transferring Assets.

Yes. It is a good idea to have each person who receives estate property sign a document called a "Receipt and Release." This document confirms that the person did in fact receive the property and accepts it as their rightful share under the Will or through intestacy. It also reduces the risk of later disputes when you close the estate.

You can file:

Receipt and Release, P-385

You should file all original Receipts and Releases with the court when you close the estate.

If someone does not want property from the estate, they need to file a disclaimer.

If someone does not want property from the estate, they may refuse to accept the property in writing. Refusing the property in writing is disclaiming it.” A disclaimer is only valid if a person makes it before receiving or controlling the property. The person must describe the property in writing, sign the disclaimer and file it with the court or deliver it to the Personal Representative.

Disclaiming property can be complicated, especially real property like houses or land, and you cannot do it if you owe child support. You may want to talk to a probate lawyer before disclaiming property.

This is a disclaimer made within the timeline set by the IRS. You can check the IRS website. It is "qualified" because the IRS does not treat you as the owner of the property for estate and gift tax purposes.

As a general rule, it passes as if you died before the person who died either by intestacy or under the person's Will. But the rules are complicated and this is not always the case. If you want to make a disclaimer, it is a good idea to talk to a probate lawyer.

Yes. You can hold back a reasonable amount of property to cover final costs such as accounting fees, lawyer fees or a final tax bill. You can do this when you close either a formal probate or an informal probate case. If you close the probate by filing a Sworn Statement of Personal Representative Closing Estate, you should include the amount you plan to hold back, the purpose of the amount and your plan to distribute any remaining property after you pay the final costs. When filing a Sworn Statement, it is a good idea to have the persons who are affected by the amount you are holding back agree to your plan in the Receipt and Release. If you close the probate formally, you should ask the court to approve the amount that you want to hold back, the purpose of the amount and your plan to distribute any remaining property after you pay the final costs.

Generally, no. The beneficiary or heir will receive the gift of property made before the person's death and the property inherited after death.

But the share of the beneficiary or heir will be reduced if one of the following applies:

• If there is a Will, the Will says that the person's share should be reduced; or
• The person who died said in writing at the time of making the gift that the gift should reduce the share of the beneficiary or heir; or
• The beneficiary or heir agreed in writing that the gift should reduce their share, even if this was after the gift was made.

If a gift of property made before the person's death reduces the share of the beneficiary or heir, the property is valued at the time the beneficiary or heir received the property or on the date of the person's death, whichever comes first.

You must subtract the debt from the value of the property. For example, if a child owed money to a parent before death but did not pay the loan back, you must reduce the amount passing to the child under a Will or through intestacy by the amount of the debt.

You must give the property to a person authorized to accept the property, such as the person's parent, Guardian or Conservator. If you have any questions about who is authorized to accept the property, you should talk to a probate lawyer.

If you cannot find a beneficiary, heir or claimant and the missing person has no Conservator, you must transfer the property to the state of Alaska.

If a beneficiary, heir or claimant thinks that property wrongly passed to the state of Alaska, that person may be able to get the property back if they act promptly. It is a good idea to talk with a probate lawyer if property must pass or has passed to the state of Alaska.

No, unless the Will stated that the loan will be paid first. If the Will does not say anything, you can still pay off the loan before distributing the property if it is in the best interest of the estate. If you do not pay off the loan, the person who receives the property will also receive the loan and become responsible for the debt. Generally, the person who is supposed to receive the property should not get a larger total share of the estates if you pay off the loan with estate property.

If the Will does not say differently, distributions are paid in a specific order after paying the Homestead Allowance, Family Allowance, Exempt Property, creditor claims, debts, taxes, and costs of probate. Distributions are sorted into classes called "gifts" and each class has a different right to payment. You must make all gifts in the class with the highest priority first. If there is enough estate property after those gifts are made, you can move to the next highest class and make those gifts. If there is not enough property to make all gifts in a certain class, you must make partial distributions by applying the same percentage to all gifts in that class. After that, you cannot make any gifts in classes with a lower priority.

Below is a list of gifts under a Will in order of priority:

• Specific gifts
• General gifts
• Residuary gifts
• Property not disposed of by the Will

A properly prepared Will should direct how all of the property of the person who died passes. But if it does not, any property not included in the Will passes to the heirs of the person who died as if there was no Will (called partial intestacy).

Read about what happens to property when there is no Will.

Yes. Persons who inherit property under the Will or through intestacy can change their shares, the amount and the types of property they are supposed to receive if all persons affected by the change agree in writing. The Personal Representative must transfer the property in the way the persons have agreed. However, the agreement cannot affect the rights of creditors or persons with another right to the property.

Yes, if it has been less than three years since the person died or one year after the property was distributed, whichever is later. If the Personal Representative asks, the person who received the property must return the property and any income the property earned. If the person no longer has the property, the person must return the value of the property and any income the property earned as of the date they disposed of the property.

Yes. If the person who sold or borrowed against the property had title to the property or a Deed of Distribution from the Personal Representative, another person who bought or loaned money in good faith has no responsibility to the estate or the person who owned the property.

For example, a person received a truck from the estate of their dead uncle. That person sells the truck the following week. It turns out that the truck should not have gone to that person and the personal representative of the uncle’s estate wants the truck back. The personal representative cannot ask the buyer of the truck to return it. The buyer can keep the truck. The nephew, however, would need to give the value of the truck back to the personal representative.

If another state handled a probate case and there is estate property in Alaska, the personal representative appointed in the other state (called a domiciliary foreign personal representative) can administer property in Alaska by filing:

• Domiciliary Foreign Personal Representative’s Statement, P-312 [Fill-In PDF]
• Authenticated copies of the appointment papers from the out-of-state court, and
• Authenticated copy of any bond given in the out-of-state probate case unless it was waived.

The Alaska court can only appoint a domiciliary foreign personal representative if there is no probate case pending in Alaska. Once appointed, the domiciliary foreign personal representative has all the powers of a local personal representative. It is called Ancillary Administration when the foreign personal representative is acting to collect property in Alaska.

The judicial officer will issue an order an Order Recognizing the Authority of Domiciliary Foreign Personal Representative to Act in the State of Alaska, P-313. Once the court appoints the foreign personal representative, they can distribute the property. Read this section to learn more about distribution of estate assets and also read about transferring ownership and title.

You can learn more about the:

• Personal Representative Responsibilities
• Accounting Requirements
• Debts & Creditors
• Federal Taxes
• Inventory & Management of Assets
• Transferring Ownership/Title of Assets