ACCOUNTING DUTIES OF THE EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE - THE FORM OF THE ACCOUNTS - PART III
In general terms, the form of the accounts should provide all essential information to all persons interested or entitled to an accounting in the Estate or Trust. Generally speaking, the accounts should be prepared in a manner that is capable of being understood by a person of average intelligence, literate in English, and familiar with basic financial terms, who has read it with care and attention. Accordingly, Executors and Trustees preparing their accounts should be careful to avoid technical terms such as "debit" and "credit", which are generally not known to persons who are not familiar with bookkeeping and accounting practices.
One of the main problems encountered by Executors and Trustees in answering requests for information or providing explanations to beneficiaries is that the beneficiaries frequently do not read the accounts with the required care and attention which is essential if the accounts are to be understood.
On the cover of the accounts, a short statement of the purpose of the accounting, such as "The Trustees present these accounts for the approval of the Judge and to acquaint interested parties with the administration of the Estate and its proposed distribution", might well be added.
Furthermore, there should be a statement to the effect that the accounts should be carefully considered and a named person should be specified as being available to answer questions arising out of the accounts.
It is also suggested that the date of the passing of the accounts should be inserted on the front page.
We will have more to say on the form of the accounts in a future blog.
Continuing with our recent trend, here are some social media leads for your consideration.
Public Domain and Copyright Issues: For published and unpublished works, there are a number of helpful charts to help determine the duration of a copyright and when a work enters the public domain: Peter Hirtle, "Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States" Mary Minow, "Library Digitization Projects and Copyright"
IP Law (Copyright, Trademark, Publicity Rights, Etc.):
All the best, Suzana and Ian. --------
