Recording Early Estate Expenses

Show Table of Contents

In the early days of handling a death, an executor will often need to incur expenses before gaining access to official estate funds (for example, paying for the funeral, applying for probate, keeping the utilities on, etc.).

Paying Out-of-Pocket

For estate expenses you pay with your own funds, you can use the Executor Expenses Table to track these expenses:

Record an Expense

To record an estate expense you paid using your own funds:

On the Executor Tab, select the Expenses table using the radio buttons at the top left
Click the Create Expense button to create a new expense, and fill in the information in the newly created row at the top of the table

Repay Expenses

When you are ready to repay yourself using estate funds:

Select the expenses you wish to repay using their checkmarks in the leftmost column
Click the Reimburse button at the top of the table
In the dialog that appears, select the estate account/asset from which you are repaying yourself, using the dropdown in the top right of the dialog
In the Name field, put your name (the estate making a check out to you
Click OK

See also Log Executor Expenses for more details, and note that EstateExec will automatically track total unreimbursed executor expenses on Debts tab.

Paying via with Funds from an Estate Loan

Another way to approach these early expenses is to use the proceeds of an estate loan to pay the individual estate expenses. In this case, the estate, not you, is paying the individual expenses.

Record the Loan

To record a loan to the estate:

Click the "Borrow" button on the Debts Tab.
Fill in the Transaction dialog that appears, and press OK.

This will create a new Debt of Type "Executor Loan" and automatically record the deposit of the loan amount into the asset selected in the top right of the Transaction dialog.

Record Expense Payment

Since the estate is making these payments, you record these expenses as you would any other, on the Cashflow Tab: see Record a Bill Payment.

Repay the Loan

When the time comes to repay the loan, follow the general instructions for paying off a debt.

Arranging for Providers to Wait for Payment

If you arrange with a provider to wait for payment, you are effectively creating a new estate debt.

Record a New Debt

To record such a debt, follow the general instructions for entering a debt, but leave the Owed at Death column blank since the Debt did not exist at death.

Pay the Debt

When you are ready to pay the debt using estate funds, follow the general instructions for paying off a debt.

See Handling Early Expenses for important information about deciding which bills to pay, and see Manage Estate Cash for a broader discussion of tracking estate financial transactions.