I have been asked to sign a receipt and release after receiving an inheritance.
What is a receipt and release? What is its legal effect?
Answer
A receipt and release is a document that the executor or administrator of an estate will ask a beneficiary of the estate to sign as part of the informal accounting process to close the estate. If you sign the receipt and release document, you are:
- Acknowledging that you've gotten the money payment or property that you were entitled to from the estate, and
- Releasing the executor or administrator from further liability to the estate.
In other words, by signing the receipt and release, you are stating that you have received your inheritance and will not go back to the estate to claim more money or property later. Once the executor or administrator has distributed the money and property from the estate and gotten signed receipt and release forms back from all the named beneficiaries, they are considered to be released from their responsibilities to the estate. The signed forms are filed with the Surrogate's Court per section 2202 of the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act.
You can find receipt and release forms as part of the trust and non-trust accounting form packets here.