It happened again this week. A gentleman showed up with his mother's will and a death certificate.

He pointed to the part of the will that said he was personal representative and the part that indicated he gets her money. He then asked that we close his mother's accounts and give him the money.

Unfortunately, I had to explain to him that things didn't quite work that way. He took it pretty well although he wandered away muttering something about lawyers.

Unfortunately, this happens fairly frequently. Not a lot, but enough to warrant a mention in my column.

Most people understand what a will is and how it works. And for the most part, they do. However, the actual process of implementing the testamentary instruction is sometimes a mystery.

The simple fact is that until you die, a will is simply a piece of paper. An important piece of paper, but still just a piece of paper.

Because a will can be modified or revoked during your lifetime, its actual usefulness is contingent on an event: your death.

But the gentleman's mother passed away, you say. That's true, and assuming the will is valid, it now has some teeth to it. However, a process needs to take place in order to implement it. You can't simply hand a copy of the will to your bank or broker and expect to be handed a bag full of cash.

After death, the will can be implemented in two basic ways: through probate and through an informal process involving a small estate affidavit.

Probate is obviously the more formal procedure. Basically, a person files a petition with the appropriate court and presents the will. The person asks that the will be accepted into probate and that he or she be appointed personal representative. Once appointed, the personal representative can begin administering the estate: collecting and administering the assets; paying the creditors; filing and paying the taxes; and finally, getting the money to where it belongs.

That is essentially the probate process. I've simplified it, but for the most part, that's how it works.

The informal process of transferring assets under the terms of a will applies to estates with probate assets valued at less than $50,000. If the probate estate is less than $50,000, assets can be transferred using an affidavit for transfer of property, lovingly referred to as a small estate's affidavit.

The small estate's affidavit allows the person holding a decedent's asset to turn it over to the person providing the affidavit. The person supplying the affidavit is then entrusted with using the money appropriately, i.e., paying the bills and distributing the money to people provided for in the will.

In order to transfer assets according to the terms of a will, one of these processes will be used. Simply presenting the will isn't going to be enough. The will needs to implemented properly, either through it acceptance into probate or through a small estate's affidavit.

Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Christopher W. Yugo is a member of the Indiana Bar and a vice president and senior trust Officer for First National Bank's Trust Department. Address questions to Yugo in care of The Times, 601 W. 45th Ave., Munster, IN, 46321. Yugo's information is meant to be general in nature. Specific legal, tax, or insurance questions should be referred to your attorney, accountant or estate-planning specialist.