How to Settle an Estate

While no actual attorney appears on this program, the tape opens with three screens of fine-print disclaimers (running almost two minutes), which certainly lend the requisite legalese flavor to this guide to estate settlement. Covering the basics from the notification of death, the program describes the duties of an estate executor (and what to do if you do not want to be an executor), outlining the myriad steps of seeing to the appraisal, gathering assets, paying debts, managing the estate, paying taxes and distributing the tangibles and proceeds. In addition, the tape includes a list of websites for important agencies such as the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration, and the IRS. While the production quality is frankly amateurish and the presentation somewhat stilted, this is a strong optional purchase for libraries without similar fare such as Settling the Affairs of a Loved One (VL-11/95). Aud: P. (R. Reagan)