"Estate administration" is the process of settling a person’s affairs after his or her death. In addition to locating a will, if one exists, typical matters to be handled include determining what the person owned and the value of those assets, how the assets were titled (such as individually in the person's own name or jointly with another person with a right of survivorship), and whether beneficiaries were designated; learning whether the person owed money to creditors, sending legal notices to creditors, and paying any amounts which must be paid; filing tax returns; and distributing remaining assets to the proper people after creditors and expenses are paid.

To get started with administering an estate, the person who expects to be handling matters should gather the following information:

A will, if one exists;

The death certificate;

A list of "interested persons" and their current addresses–"interested persons" are generally people who are named in a will, including the designated "Personal Representative" or "Executor," PLUS people who inherit if there is no will;

A list of assets owned by the deceased person and approximate values;

A list of known creditors;

The funeral bill; and

The last several years of tax returns.

This information provides a basic foundation for administering the person's estate and includes key pieces of data which are needed to prepare court and tax documents.  Although administering an estate can seem like a daunting task, gathering and organizing the right information can make it much easier.