Only after the creditor claim period has closed and debts and taxes are paid. This is the step that creates personal liability more than any other — distribute early, and a valid late claim can become yours to cover. Get signed receipts for everything you hand over.
See also: When the creditor window closes in your state
Distribute only after debts, taxes, and the creditor period are handled -- early distribution can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or state intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Applies in 41 of the 51 jurisdictions Settle covers.
10 jurisdictions handle this their own way:
Early distribution creates personal liability.
How: Follow the will. Get a signed receipt from every beneficiary and keep them — the court wants them before it discharges you (Ex Parte Petition for Final Discharge and Order, form DE-295).
Distributing before the creditor claim period closes and debts/taxes are paid can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Florida intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distribute only after the creditor period and any year's-support claim are handled — early distribution can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Georgia intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before the 6-month creditor period closes and debts/taxes are paid can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Illinois intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before the creditor period closes and debts/taxes are paid can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Michigan intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before the creditor period closes and debts/taxes are handled creates personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or EPTL intestacy rules). Get signed receipts and releases; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before the creditor period closes and any year's-allowance claim is handled can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or NC intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before the 6-month creditor window closes and debts/taxes are paid can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Ohio intestacy rules). Get signed receipts; keep them in Settle.
Distribute only after debts, the inheritance tax, and the creditor period are handled — early distribution can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or PA intestacy rules). Get signed receipts/releases; keep them in Settle.
Distributing before debts, taxes, and the creditor process are handled can create personal liability.
How: Follow the will (or Texas intestacy rules). Get signed receipts from each beneficiary; keep them in Settle.
Settle builds this checklist into a plan you can actually work
The steps above, ordered for your situation in your state, with the deadlines on a calendar, your documents attached to the step that needs them, and an expense ledger for everything the estate owes you back. The plan itself is free.
This step is estate administration procedure, not a statutory deadline, so Settle's rule tables carry no statute citation for it and none is invented here. The answer above is the guidance the app itself gives, identical in every jurisdiction it covers.
The steps that are backed by statute — filing windows, creditor periods, inventory deadlines — carry their citation and last-checked date on the state guide and in Where the state information comes from. If something here does not match what the court or your attorney told you, please write to [email protected].
This is one step out of roughly two dozen. The full sequence for your state — with the statutory deadlines, the citations behind them and the date each was last checked — is in the state executor guides.