Probate Expenses Log

Who this is for

Every cost of settling the estate, in one place. Each line records what was paid, to whom, by whom and whether it has been paid back, so that the estate accounts can show where the money went and nobody is left out of pocket.

Executors and administrators, especially lay executors paying some costs from their own pockets, and families sharing the work of winding up an estate.

What this helps you track

• Each cost, its date and who it was paid to
• What kind of cost it was, such as fees, valuations or travel
• Whether it came from the estate account or someone's own money
• Whether a receipt was kept
• What has been paid back and what is still owed to the person who paid

How to use it

1. Write whose estate it is, the executors and the dates the log covers.
2. Add a line for every cost as it is paid, with the payee and a short description, and choose a category.
3. Choose who paid: the estate account or a named person. Tick receipt kept once the receipt is filed.
4. When a personal payment is reimbursed from the estate, tick repaid and write the date.
5. Totals are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, add the amount and owed columns at the foot of each page.
6. Keep receipts in the same order as the log so any line can be matched to its paperwork.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Which costs count as estate expenses?

That depends on the estate and on the rules where you are, so check before assuming a cost can be claimed back. The log records every cost you choose to enter and takes no view on which ones qualify.

How does the owed column work?

Any line not paid from the estate account counts as a personal payment. It shows as owed until you tick repaid, so the total at the foot is what the estate still needs to pay back to the people who covered costs.

Several of us are paying costs. How do we tell who is owed what?

Put the payer's name in the paid by column exactly the same way each time. In the workbook you can filter by that column to see each person's lines and their owed total.

Should the estate account payments go on here too?

Yes, if they are expenses of administering the estate. Recording every cost in one log gives the full total, while the paid by column keeps the two sources apart.