Settling an estate

Every bank and utility you tell is in one list, with the day to chase it. You divide the jobs between you, and record what each of you paid out of pocket.

The estate gets a Magpie team of its own, for you and the family. Your copies of the will and the deeds are encrypted, and only you can open them.

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The estate’s follow-ups in Contacts: Elmstead Savings and Alderbrook Hydro overdue, the home insurer today, then the pension plan, the lawyer, the phone company, the funeral home and the card company, each with what to chase.

You follow each account from the first phone call to its closing balance.

Every pension, card and utility goes the same way.

  1. The first call

    You phone the bank's bereavement team, and log the call on the bank's contact. You pin a note with their reference number.

  2. The job

    Writing to the bank is a To-do given to your brother, with a deadline. Its reminder will be emailed the day before.

  3. The letter

    Your brother writes it from the Business letter starter, and prints it to sign. It goes out with a certified copy of the death certificate.

    A letter to Elmstead Savings’ bereavement team open in Documents, in the Estate of Eileen Dunmore team: the account holder, the two accounts, and the balances the executors ask for.
  4. The chase

    A follow-up on the bank's contact is dated three weeks later. That day, it will appear in your To-dos for Today.

  5. The balance

    The bank's reply gives the closing balance, which goes on the estate's spreadsheet. A formula adds it to what the estate holds.

  6. The costs

    The postage and the certified copies are your brother's expenses, marked reimbursable. You mark them reimbursed once the estate account has paid your brother back.

This combination of seven Magpie areas fits the executors of an estate.

Contacts
Contacts keeps every bank, pension and utility you tell, with each call written down.
To-dos
To-dos holds the estate's jobs, each given to one of you with a deadline.
Documents
Documents holds the letters to each bank and pension, ready to print and sign.
Secure Files
Secure Files keeps your scans of the will, the death certificate and the deeds, encrypted.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets lists what the estate owns and owes, and every payment in and out.
Expenses
Expenses records what each of you paid out of pocket, and when the estate repaid it.
Password Vault
Password Vault keeps the logins for the accounts you are closing, encrypted.

You log every call on the organization's contact, with their reference number at the top.

Contacts keeps each organization you deal with, from the bank to the funeral director. You log each call or email on its contact, with what was said. A pinned note keeps their reference number near the top.

A follow-up gives each one a date to chase. Follow-ups lists them all, the overdue ones first. Everyone in the estate's team sees the same contacts.

Each job goes to one of you, with the date it has to be done by.

To-dos holds the estate's jobs in Lists, such as one for the accounts to close. Each job is given to one person, with a deadline if it has one. A reminder can be emailed the day before.

Team To-dos shows every open job with who has it. Jobs with a date appear on the estate's calendar too.

The Accounts to close List in the Estate of Eileen Dunmore team: each job with its day, its deadline and the brother or sister doing it, under the line that says the team’s members can see it.

You write the first letter once, then copy it for each bank and pension.

Documents holds the estate's letters, open to everyone in its team. The Business letter starter has the date, the recipient and the body in place. Duplicate copies a finished letter for the next one.

Each letter prints, or downloads as a PDF, ready to sign. A lawyer you share a draft with can suggest changes. They apply only when you accept them.

Your scans of the will and the death certificate are encrypted before they leave your browser.

Secure Files keeps your scans in folders, such as one for the house with the deed. Each file and its name are encrypted in your browser. Magpie cannot read them.

The files belong to your account, so each executor keeps a set. You can send one scan to the lawyer by a secure link. It expires after 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days or 30 days, as you choose.

Claire’s Secure Files open on the Mom’s papers folder: the house folder, then scans of the will, the death certificate, the funeral contract, bank statements, the pension letter and the last tax return, each with its size and date.

The estate's spreadsheet lists every account, debt and payment, and totals them.

Spreadsheets keeps the estate's figures on separate sheets, such as one for its debts. Formulas total each sheet as balances and valuations come in. A sheet for the house contents can record each valuation and what each piece sold for.

You can give a beneficiary or the lawyer Viewer access to this spreadsheet alone. What has to be valued, and as of which date, varies from place to place. Check the rules where the estate is settled.

Expenses shows what each of you paid for the estate, and what it still owes you.

Expenses records what each of you paid personally, such as a locksmith at the house. A photo or PDF of the receipt goes with it. You see everyone's costs, and the others see their own.

Each person's costs go on an expense report for you to approve. When the estate account pays them back, you mark it reimbursed, with the date. Magpie records the payment and does not send money.

All Expenses in the Estate of Eileen Dunmore team, as Claire sees them: an appraisal, postage, a locksmith, the house insurance, storage, the funeral flowers, the funeral home’s deposit and certificate copies, each with who paid it and whether it was submitted, approved or reimbursed.

The logins for the accounts you are closing are kept in your own vault.

Password Vault keeps logins, account numbers and notes, encrypted in your browser. It opens with a vault password that Magpie never has. Each executor has a vault of their own.

Tags sort the items, such as To close and Closed. A custom item can hold the house's alarm code and the key safe's number.

Claire’s Password Vault: the estate account’s login, the house’s alarm and key safe, the safe deposit box, and the accounts in Eileen’s name tagged To close or Closed.

Five more areas cover the dates, the family's messages, notes, calls and forms.

Calendar
Calendar shows the estate's dates to the family, such as the funeral and the house clearance. Jobs with a deadline appear on their day.
Team chat
Team chat gives the estate's team its own channels, such as one for selling the house. Replies go in threads, with pictures.
Notes
Notes keeps what the lawyer said at each meeting, open to the family. Search finds any word in them.
Video Chat
Video Chat makes a short, timed video call between two of you.
PDF Editor
PDF Editor opens a pension plan's form in your browser, and you type into it. Photos of a letter become one PDF to send.

Setting up starts with a team for the estate.

You make a team for the estate and invite the other executors. Help: Create and manage a team.

You add each bank, pension and utility as a contact when you first get in touch. Help: Keep notes and follow-ups on a contact.

The estate's first List takes the jobs, each given to one of you. Help: Use To-dos.

Secure Files uses Password Vault's encryption, so each of you sets up a vault first. Help: Password Vault: passwords and private information.

Plans

A free team has 3 member places, counting you, and keeps up to 100 contacts. A larger family needs the Team plan, with 25 places at one price.

A lawyer or beneficiary given one record is a guest, and takes no place. Your scans use your own storage, 1 GB on the free plan or 20 GB with Pro.

Other people handling a family's affairs have pages of their own.

Umzug

Moving house puts the removal firm, the utilities and the new lease on one shared checklist.

Questions executors ask

Can my brother and I split the jobs between us?

Yes. Each job on the estate's List is a To-do given to one of you. It can have a deadline, and a reminder emailed the day before. Team To-dos shows every open job and who has it.

Will reminders reach my brother overseas at the right time?

Yes. A reminder will be emailed to whoever has the To-do, at their own local time. A reminder on a deadline will arrive at 9:00 am where they are.

Can we keep track of every organization we have told?

Yes. Each bank, pension, insurer and utility is a contact in the estate's team. You log each call or email on it, with what was said. The contacts list shows when you last spoke to each, and the next follow-up.

Where do we write down the bank's reference number?

On the bank's contact, in a note you pin. A pinned note is shown near the top of the contact's page. Everyone in the estate's team sees the same note.

Can it remind us to chase a bank that has not replied?

Yes. A follow-up gives the bank's contact a date and a reason, such as the balances. It is a To-do on that date, and can have an email reminder. Follow-ups lists every open one as Overdue, Today or Upcoming.

Can we write the letters to the banks in Magpie?

Yes. The Business letter starter gives each letter its date, recipient and body. Duplicate copies a finished letter for the next bank or pension, and you change the details. Each one prints, or downloads as a PDF to sign. Word files import, and letters export to Word.

Can our lawyer read a letter before it goes out?

Yes. You share the document with the lawyer as Can review. They can comment and suggest changes, which apply only when you accept them. They join as a guest who opens only that document. Someone without a Magpie account gets a free one when they accept.

Where can we keep the will and the death certificate?

Secure Files keeps your scans, each encrypted in your browser before it is stored. Magpie cannot unlock them without your vault password. The files belong to your own account, so each executor keeps a set. A secure link sends one to the lawyer, and can need a passphrase.

Can we list everything the estate owns and owes?

Yes. One sheet can list the accounts, the house and the car, and another the debts. Formulas total each sheet as balances and valuations come in. The Currency format uses the team's currency. Check the rules where the estate is settled for what to value, and when.

Can the beneficiaries see the figures without changing them?

Yes. You share the spreadsheet with each of them as Viewer. Someone outside the estate's team joins as a guest who opens that spreadsheet and nothing else. A guest takes no place on the plan. They can sort and filter it for themselves without changing what you see.

Can we list the house contents and who is taking what?

Yes. A sheet can list each piece with its valuation. A dropdown beside it can hold each of your names. Another column can record what a piece sold for. A filter view can show only your own pieces, without changing what the others see.

Can we keep track of what each of us paid out of our own pocket?

Yes. Each of you records what you paid, with the receipt, and marks it reimbursable. An expense report gathers them for you to approve. When the estate account pays someone back, you mark the report reimbursed with the date. Magpie records the payment and does not send money.

Who sees the costs each of us records?

You see every cost recorded in the estate's team, with who paid it. The other executors each see their own, unless you make them admins too. Receipts open only for people who can see the expense.

Can costs paid abroad be recorded in their own currency?

Yes. Each expense keeps the currency it was paid in. Totals keep each currency separate, as it was paid. An expense report holds one currency, so costs in two currencies go on two reports.

Can we give the lawyer or the accountant every receipt at the end?

Yes. Export receipts downloads a ZIP with every receipt, named by date, merchant and amount. It comes with a CSV list of the expenses, with who paid and the reimbursement details. Each sheet of the spreadsheet exports as CSV too.

Can I keep the logins for the accounts we are closing somewhere safe?

Yes. Password Vault keeps them encrypted in your browser, with a vault password Magpie never has. Tags such as To close and Closed sort them. Only you can open your vault. A recovery key lets you choose a new vault password if you forget it.

Where can I keep the house's alarm code and the key safe number?

In your vault, as a custom item with its own fields, such as Alarm code. A field can stay hidden until you choose Reveal. Clicking a value copies it. Like the rest of your vault, it is encrypted in your browser.

Can we fill in the bank's forms on screen?

Yes. PDF Editor opens the form in your browser, and you type into its fields. A form without fields takes typed text anywhere on the page. The finished PDF downloads, or is saved encrypted with your other scans.

Can the funeral and the lawyer's appointments go on one calendar?

Yes. The estate's team has a calendar that everyone in it sees. The funeral, the lawyer's appointments and the house clearance go on as events. Jobs show on the day they are planned, and deadlines on the day they fall.

Can we keep notes from meetings with the lawyer?

Yes. Notes keeps them in the estate's team, open to the family, and saves as you type. A checklist line can become a To-do. Search finds any word in them, such as a bank's name.

Can the family talk about selling the house in one place?

Yes. Team chat gives the estate's team channels, such as one for the house sale. You can reply in a thread, react and add pictures. Two of you can also start a short video call.

Can the lawyer handling probate see only what we choose?

Yes. You share each record with them on its own: a List, a letter or the spreadsheet. They join the estate's team as a guest, and see only what you shared. A guest takes no place on the plan.

What happens to everything once the estate is settled?

It is kept until you decide. Archiving the estate's team takes it out of use, and keeps its work. Restore brings it back with the same people and records. Sheets export as CSV, letters as PDF or Word, and expenses with their receipts.

Set up the estate in Magpie.

Create a Magpie account and make a team for the estate.

Create account