Pay Off Debt

Record a Payment by the Estate

To record the fact that the estate has paid some or all of the amount owed on a debt,

1. Select the "Debts" Tab, and click the "Paid" cell for the debt being paid.
2. Enter information about the payment in the dialog that appears.
3. Press the "OK" button (as always, remember that your changes are not saved until you press the estate "Save All" button).

If you make a partial payment, the next time you click the "Paid" cell you will see a dialog listing all payments for that debt to date, as well as a button to add a new payment.

To keep the estate accounts balanced, EstateExec will also automatically record any debt payment as a transaction on the Cashflow tab: you don't have to do anything extra.

Alternative Cashflow Tab Method

Alternately, you can choose to enter payments via the Cashflow tab (it just takes a few more clicks):

1. Select the "Cashflow" Tab, and click the "Create Transaction" button.
2. Select "Withdrawal" for the transaction type.
3. Select "Debt Payment" for the category.
4. Select the particular debt for which you want to record a payment from the Item dropdown.
5. Make any desired changes to the default amount, date, notes, etc.
6. Press the "OK" button (as always, remember that your changes are not saved until you press the estate "Save All" button).

In addition to creating the transaction, EstateExec will automatically reduce the amount owed on the Debts tab. It doesn't matter whether you enter the payment via the Debts tab or the Cashflow tab; the results will be the same, and reflected everywhere throughout EstateExec.

Third Party Payments

Sometimes third parties (for example, relatives to the decedent) pay estate debts before official estate administration begins, or before the executor has access to estate funds.

Since these payments do not involve estate transactions, you should follow the instructions for adjusting debts due to third-party payments.