Ashford International Law P.C.

Summary

1. Ashford International Law PC settles estates and administers trusts in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and California, and settles estates in Germany, all jurisdictions in which its attorneys are admitted. Its practice concentrates on settlements with a foreign element: an heir abroad, assets abroad, or a decedent who lived abroad.
2. A settlement covers only the probate estate, meaning assets in the decedent’s sole name without a beneficiary designation. Assets held in a revocable trust, in joint title with survivorship, or under a beneficiary designation pass outside the court, but they remain subject to federal estate tax.
3. The four American jurisdictions differ on small estate limits, creditor periods, inventories, accounts, fiduciary compensation and state death tax. The differences are most significant where the decedent owned real estate in more than one of them.
4. Whether a nonresident or a non-citizen may serve as personal representative is decided state by state, and a sole nonresident personal representative in Virginia must in most cases post a bond with surety even where the will waives it.
5. The federal tax filings are subject to deadlines independent of the court proceedings: the decedent’s final income tax return, the estate’s income tax returns, and an estate tax return due nine months after death where one is required or useful.
6. Where the decedent also left assets in Germany or France, a second settlement is required under different rules and deadlines, and the two must be coordinated so that tax credits on each side are preserved.

Part I. What an estate settlement involves

An estate settlement is the process by which a decedent’s assets are collected, debts and taxes are paid, and what remains is transferred to the persons entitled to it under the will or, if there is none, under the intestacy statute. In the United States this is done by a personal representative (an executor named in the will, or an administrator appointed by the court) under the authority of a court in the state where the decedent was domiciled. Where the decedent owned real estate in another state, an ancillary proceeding is usually required there as well.

Only the probate estate passes through the court. Accounts with a payable on death or transfer on death designation, life insurance, retirement accounts, property held in joint title with right of survivorship, and property held in a revocable trust pass directly to the named persons or to the successor trustee. For many families the trust administration is therefore the larger part of the work, and it is covered in Part IV. The distinction has no bearing on federal estate tax: the gross estate includes non-probate assets, and the personal representative is responsible for the estate tax return on all of them.

The sequence of steps is substantially the same in each jurisdiction. The personal representative is appointed and receives letters, obtains an employer identification number for the estate, opens an estate account, gives notice to heirs, beneficiaries and creditors, collects and values the assets, pays valid debts, expenses and taxes, accounts for the administration, and distributes the remainder. What differs from one jurisdiction to the next is the degree of court involvement, the deadlines, and the protection given to the personal representative who follows them. Where a person dies without a will, the intestacy rules of the three Washington area jurisdictions are set out in the firm’s post on dying without a last will and testament in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia.

Part II. The four American jurisdictions compared

The District of Columbia and California both favor administration with little court supervision. In the District, supervised administration is ordered only if the will directs it or for good cause (D.C. Code § 20-402), and an unsupervised personal representative files no inventories or accounts with the court. California grants authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act unless an objector shows good cause; limited authority excludes sales of and borrowing against real property (Cal. Prob. Code §§ 10402, 10403, 10452), and many significant acts require a notice of proposed action given to the beneficiaries at least fifteen days in advance (§ 10586). Maryland requires an inventory and regular accounts, but offers modified administration where the residuary heirs or legatees are limited to the personal representative, persons exempt from inheritance tax, or trusts for them, with a final report within ten months and distribution within twelve (Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 5-702, 5-703, 5-706). Virginia estates are opened before the circuit court clerk and accounted for before a commissioner of accounts.

Table 1. Procedure in the four jurisdictions, September 2026. Figures are adjusted periodically.

Maryland’s inheritance tax is often overlooked because it reaches estates far below the estate tax threshold. Spouses, children and their descendants, parents, grandparents, siblings, stepchildren and stepparents are exempt, among others, while nieces, nephews, cousins and friends pay 10 percent (Md. Code, Tax-Gen. § 7-203). A bequest to a niece, a friend or a godchild is therefore taxed in Maryland even where no estate tax is due anywhere.

The deadlines also differ. In Virginia, notice of probate must go to the spouse, all heirs at law and all beneficiaries within 30 days of qualification, and the affidavit of notice must be recorded within four months (Va. Code § 64.2-508). In California, the Judicial Branch describes a formal probate as typically taking nine to eighteen months, and the personal representative must petition for final distribution or report on the status of the estate within one year of letters, or eighteen months where a federal estate tax return is required (Cal. Prob. Code § 12200). The firm’s page on estate settlements in Virginia follows a Virginia administration from qualification to closing.

Part III. Settlements in Germany

German law has no probate in the American sense. The heirs succeed to the estate as a whole at the moment of death (§ 1922 BGB), and where there are several heirs they hold it jointly as a community of heirs until it is divided (§ 2032 BGB). An executor (Testamentsvollstrecker) exists only if the will appoints one (§ 2197 BGB). An executor appointed under an American will does not, by that appointment alone, gain control of German accounts or real estate.

The heirs prove their entitlement with a certificate of inheritance (Erbschein) issued by the probate court, which is a division of the local Amtsgericht (§ 2353 BGB), or with a European Certificate of Succession, which takes effect in all Member States bound by the EU Succession Regulation and whose certified copies are valid for six months (Regulation (EU) No 650/2012, Arts. 62, 69 and 70). For a decedent whose last habitual residence was in the United States and who left assets in Germany, a German court has jurisdiction over the whole estate if the decedent was a German national at death or, failing that, had moved away from Germany within the five years before the court is seised; otherwise its jurisdiction extends only to the assets located in Germany (Art. 10). The Court of Justice of the European Union has held that these jurisdiction rules also govern national certificates such as the Erbschein (Oberle, C-20/17, 2018).

Two German deadlines are frequently missed by heirs in the United States. An heir may disclaim within six weeks of learning of the inheritance and its basis, extended to six months where the decedent’s last domicile was only abroad or the heir was abroad when the period began (§ 1944 BGB); an heir who allows the period to expire is deemed to have accepted the inheritance, including its debts. Each acquisition must also be reported to the German tax office within three months (§ 30 ErbStG), and German banks report accounts of a deceased customer within one month of learning of the death (§ 33 ErbStG). German inheritance tax applies to the whole acquisition where either the decedent or the heir was resident in Germany, or was a German citizen who had left Germany within the previous five years (§ 2 ErbStG), and the German-American estate tax convention allocates credits between the two countries (Art. 11). Heirs in the United States who inherit from a German estate will find the German procedure, the tax and the paperwork set out in detail on the firm’s companion site www.GermanyUSAlawtaxfinance.com.

Part IV. Trust administration after the death

On the death of the person who created a revocable trust, the trust becomes irrevocable and the successor trustee assumes office. The trustee’s duties are fiduciary from that moment: to identify and secure the trust assets, obtain date of death values, keep the beneficiaries reasonably informed, pay the expenses and taxes the trust instrument allocates to the trust, and distribute according to its terms. Each jurisdiction requires the trustee to notify the beneficiaries within a fixed period, and each sets a short deadline for contesting the trust that begins to run once the trustee sends a copy of the trust and a notice. A trustee who sends the notice promptly shortens the period in which the distributions can be challenged.

Table 2. Trustee notices and contest periods for revocable trusts.

Administration through a trust does not displace the tax obligations. Where no personal representative is appointed, the trustee is the “executor” for federal estate tax purposes (26 U.S.C. § 2203) and is responsible for the estate tax return. The trustee and any personal representative may jointly elect to treat the trust as part of the estate for income tax purposes (§ 645, Form 8855), which allows a fiscal year and a single return. California also offers trustees an optional creditor claim procedure where no probate has been opened (Cal. Prob. Code § 19003). Two further points arise frequently. A successor trustee who is not a United States person can cause a domestic trust to become a foreign trust under the control test (Treas. Reg. § 301.7701-7), with income tax and reporting consequences for the trust and its beneficiaries. And a trust with a nonresident alien beneficiary must file Form 1041 whatever its income (26 U.S.C. § 6012(a)(5)).

Part V. Tax filings in a settlement

The personal representative assumes the decedent’s position for tax purposes once the Internal Revenue Service has notice of the fiduciary relationship (26 U.S.C. § 6903), and is personally liable, to the extent of the payments, for paying other debts ahead of federal claims when the estate cannot pay all of its debts (31 U.S.C. § 3713). The federal filings in a typical settlement are listed below.

Table 3. Principal federal filings. State fiduciary income tax returns and the District of Columbia and Maryland estate tax returns are filed in addition.

Two requests reduce the personal representative’s exposure. Form 4810 asks the Internal Revenue Service to assess the decedent’s and the estate’s income taxes within eighteen months (26 U.S.C. § 6501(d)); it does not apply to estate tax. Form 5495 asks for discharge from personal liability: for estate tax, the Service must notify the executor of the amount due within nine months of the application or of the filing of the return, if later (§ 2204); for income and gift tax, the executor is discharged on paying the notified amount, or nine months after the application if no notice is given (§ 6905). A return to elect portability is frequently advisable even where no estate tax is due, because the deceased spouse’s unused exclusion can later be applied against the surviving spouse’s own transfers. Where the surviving spouse is not a United States citizen, the marital deduction depends on a qualified domestic trust, which is covered on the page on estate planning for non-US citizens.

Part VI. Cross-border settlements

Three situations arise repeatedly.

An heir or beneficiary abroad

A foreign heir owes no American tax on receiving an inheritance, but the estate must withhold 30 percent on distributions that carry out certain United States source income (26 U.S.C. § 1441) unless a treaty reduces the rate, and 21 percent where the estate distributes proceeds of United States real property to a foreign beneficiary (§ 1445(e)(1); Treas. Reg. § 1.1445-5). The personal representative should collect Form W-8BEN and, where required, a taxpayer identification number before the first distribution. The heir’s own country may tax the inheritance in full: Germany where the heir is resident there (§ 2 ErbStG), and France where the heir is domiciled in France and has been for at least six of the preceding ten years (art. 750 ter CGI). The page on non-US beneficiaries covers this in detail.

Assets abroad

An American personal representative’s letters have no legal effect in Germany or France. Foreign banks and land registries require their own proof of heirship, which may be an Erbschein, a European Certificate of Succession, or a French acte de notoriété drawn up by a notaire (art. 730-1 C. civ.). American documents used abroad need an apostille, which the United States, Germany and France all issue under the 1961 Hague Convention, and a certified translation. In France the notaire also prepares the déclaration de succession, due six months after a death in metropolitan France and twelve months in other cases, including a death abroad (art. 641 CGI). The foreign proceeding follows its own timetable and should be opened early, because the American estate tax return may need its values and its tax figures for the foreign death tax credit (26 U.S.C. § 2014) or a treaty credit (Germany Art. 11; France Art. 12). The page on US decedents with non-US assets treats these questions in detail.

A decedent who lived abroad

Where the decedent was neither a citizen nor domiciled in the United States, the estate is taxed on United States situs assets only, with a unified credit equivalent to an exemption of $60,000. A domestic administration is usually required for American real estate and for accounts whose custodians do not accept a foreign grant. Before transferring securities, American custodians generally require a federal transfer certificate. The Internal Revenue Service states that it can take twelve to eighteen months to issue one where no return is filed; no certificate is required for property administered by an executor appointed, qualified and acting in the United States (Treas. Reg. § 20.6325-1). The page on non-US decedents sets out the full sequence.

Wills made in another country are generally recognized. California, for example, accepts a written will executed in compliance with the law of the place of execution, or with the law of the place where the testator was domiciled, had a place of abode or was a national (Cal. Prob. Code § 6113), and it has adopted the Uniform International Wills Act (§§ 6380 to 6390). A foreign will must still be proved to the American court, usually with a certified copy, an apostille and a translation.

Part VII. The firm as personal representative or trustee

A professional fiduciary is appropriate where no relative lives near the assets, the relatives live abroad, the heirs disagree, or the named executor has died or declines to serve. In those cases the firm may act as personal representative of an estate in the United States and, in rare cases, as trustee. The firm’s fiduciary services are described separately.

Whether a relative abroad can serve instead depends on the jurisdiction, and the question should be answered before the petition is filed.

Table 4. Who may serve, and on what terms.

A bond with surety is often difficult for a relative abroad to obtain, because surety companies underwrite the individual and may require joint control of the assets. Where a will waives bond and names a nonresident executor, the waiver may not be effective in Virginia and may be overridden in California. Where the named executor cannot serve, the family can often nominate the firm or another suitable person, subject to the priority rules of each jurisdiction. Disputes among heirs, beneficiaries, personal representatives and trustees are handled under trust and estate litigation.

Part VIII. Practical steps

1. Secure the original will, any trust instruments and amendments, and several certified copies of the death certificate, with an apostille on the copies needed abroad.
2. Establish the decedent’s domicile and list every asset by location and by how it passes: probate, trust, joint title or beneficiary designation.
3. Decide where administration must be opened, including any ancillary proceeding, and whether a small estate procedure is available.
4. Confirm that the named personal representative can serve in that jurisdiction, and whether a bond with surety will be required, before the petition is filed.
5. Obtain an identification number for the estate, file Form 56, and open an estate account.
6. Send the statutory notices to heirs, beneficiaries and creditors, and the trustee’s notice under the trust code, within their deadlines.
7. Record the tax deadlines: the nine-month estate tax return, the nine-month period for a qualified disclaimer (26 U.S.C. § 2518), the German six-week or six-month disclaimer period, and the German three-month notification.
8. Open any German or French proceeding early and obtain the foreign values and tax figures needed for the American return.
9. Collect withholding certificates and taxpayer identification numbers from foreign beneficiaries before any distribution.
10. Distribute only after the creditor period has run, taxes are paid or secured, and releases or refunding bonds are in hand, and consider a request for discharge from personal liability.

Conclusion

A settlement is a sequence of deadlines set by different authorities: the probate court, the trust code, the Internal Revenue Service, the state tax authority and, in many of the firm’s matters, a German court or a French notaire. The personal representative or trustee who knows those deadlines at the start, and who has confirmed that the fiduciary can serve and that the heirs abroad are documented, avoids most of the delays and personal liability that arise in cross-border estates.

How the firm helps

Ashford International Law PC advises personal representatives, trustees and heirs on estates in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and California, and on estates with assets or heirs in Germany and France. Its work includes opening the administration and ancillary proceedings, acting as personal representative where no suitable relative is available, trust administration, the federal and state tax filings, withholding on distributions to foreign beneficiaries, transfer certificates, and coordination with German courts and French notaires. Related material covers estate settlements in Virginia, non-US decedents, non-US beneficiaries, asset planning using joint titles, fiduciary services and trust and estate litigation, as well as the posts What is Probate? An Introduction for Foreign Nationals and Dying Without a Last Will and Testament in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia. Heirs in the United States who inherit property in Germany will find further guidance at www.GermanyUSAlawtaxfinance.com. Defined terms are collected in the Topics A-Z.

This page is intended for general educational purposes and does not constitute legal or tax advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. The matters described depend on the specific facts, the countries and states concerned, and the law in effect at the relevant time. Statuses and figures are stated as of September 2026 and must be confirmed before any decision.