When a person dies, sometimes you hear references to the phrase “estate”. The term estate is a concept rather than a term. It is the concept of the person. Put another way, if you refer to your friend John as a person while they are alive, we refer to them as the “estate” when they have died. So, during a persons lifetime, they can buy and sell and house, or enter into a contract. While alive it is the person that is doing that. The same concept applies after life, though in that case it is the estate which is that person. When someone is alive, it is that person that owns the assets. After they have died, the estate owns the assets. The estate will continue until such a time as all the assets of the estate have been passed over to beneficiaries. The estate acts through a person known as an executor or personal representative. So the personal representative is the living breathing embodiment of the estate. It is the “arms and legs, eyes and ears” of the estate. However, when a personal representative signs a form on behalf of the estate, it is not the personal representative doing it in their own right, but on behalf of an under the name of the estate.
Hope this helps and please contact me, Colm Kelly, solicitor, founder of Kerrywills.ie if you need help with a will, or managing the affairs of a loved one after they have died. info@kerrywills.ie