Executors of an Estate:
What they do & secrets to succeeding

Being an executor involves a whole host of responsibilities that take an average of 500 hours and often last well over a year*. 

That’s longer than sitting down and watching all 724 Simpson’s back-to-back, twice. Or practically watching every episode of M.A.S.H. fives times in a row. 

And we’re talking focused effort too, not the mindless kind. 

Plus you usually only have to be an executor once or twice in your life, so that leaves most of us stuck navigating a web of bureaucracy without any prior experience. 

Fortunately for you, we’ve got ya covered. By the end of this you’ll know what executors of an estate are, what they do, and how to do a great job if you’ve been chosen to serve as one.

The legal definition of executor

An executor is the person legally responsible for validating the will and administering the estate of a deceased individual by ensuring rightful heirs receive any inheritance timely and fairly, resolve all estate debts, and pay all taxes owed.

An executor is the person legally responsible for validating the will and administering the estate of a deceased individual by ensuring rightful heirs receive any inheritance timely and fairly, resolve all estate debts, and pay all taxes owed.

They are generally named within a loved one’s last will & testament &/or formally appointed by the probate court.

What an executor of an estate really is 

An executor is just the person who is in charge of wrapping up someone’s life in the eyes of the government. 

As you’d expect, this mostly relates to their financial life.

When a person passes away, they typically have a lot of stuff, or assets. These assets must be divided up appropriately in the eyes of the court — after all debts and taxes are accounted for, of course. 

If they passed away with a will, known as passing testate, then it’s the executor’s job to follow the will and give the people named in the will (known as beneficiaries) what they are owed. 

If that person dies intestate, or without a will, then the executor has to follow the local intestate laws, dictated by whatever jurisdiction the person lived in before they passed away. 

There’s usually only one executor, but there can be multiple too, known as co-executors. 

Why executors have to go through probate

All the government wants is to get paid their taxes, reduce the number of fights that happen over assets, and resolve those fights when they do occur.

That’s why probate exists — probate is the legal process of dissolving someone’s estate, and executors are appointed at the beginning of probate to start distributing things.

There are different levels of probate, and these vary from bypassing probate entirely with people who passed away with very little, to court-supervised probate when disputes between beneficiaries happen.

Most of what an executor does is follow the terms of the will, create an inventory of everything the deceased owned, fill out form after form for the courts showing what they’re doing and completing various tax forms, distribute assets to the right people, and eventually prove that their job is done to the courts.

ATTICUS ADVICE: Being an executor can be intimidating, but thousands of people do this each year, with and without lawyers — it’s best to recognize this for what it is at the beginning: an involved and long process that you just have to get through, and when you approach it with the right mindset, dissolving an estate and fulfilling someone’s last wishes can sometimes be a beautiful and cathartic experience.

And just like any other big financial moment in your life, like housing or thinking through retirement, getting the big idea on the front-end will make it all feel much, much more manageable.

What are the major responsibilities of an executor of an estate?

Before we get too down the rabbit hole, here’s the big picture of what executors do. 

1. Help plan the funeral. This isn’t always the case, but if you’re the surviving spouse, you’re usually the executor as well. 
2. Hire a lawyer if necessary. You may or may not need one depending on the familial relationships, size of the estate, and what state you live in. 
3. Create an inventory of assets. Categorize everything in the estate by probate and non-probate assets. 
4. Officially become the executor. Petition for Probate at the correct probate court if you’re officially going through probate.
5. Notify all relevant parties. Tell employers, banks, social security, everyone that was affiliated with the person. 
6. Plan how the assets will be distributed. Balance the debt obligations with the desires of the will and make a plan for what will be sold, kept, or thrown away. 
7. Pay all debts. Settle all obligations of the estate to creditors. 
8. File all taxes. File leftover income taxes and inheritance or estate taxes if applicable.
9. Split what is left over between beneficiaries. Take the net value of everything left and split it according to the will or intestacy laws. 
10. Do final accounting & forms. Dissolve any existing accounts & check that the court has everything they need.
    

Other Names for the Executor of an Estate 

Because the States and Canada operate within layers of federal, state, and local jurisdictions, the words used for executor change depending on where you are. Not to mention, a lot of us tend to use casual, understandable words vs. the formal version.

So if you see these other terms, just know that they are all the same thing:

• Executrix (female executor) 
• Executor of a will 
• Co-Executor(s)
• Personal Representative
• Administrator
• Liquidator Canada (Québec)
• Solicitor— UK and Canada
• Professional Fiduciary
• Corporate Executor
• Agent for executor
  

Legal Terms All Executors Should Know

Yep more jargon. There’s a lot of it in this space, but you’ll find that the terms are all pretty straightforward. ‍

‍Here are most of the ones you’ll run across as an executor:

• Estate - A collective term for all of the assets someone left behind.
• Affidavit - a written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation and used as evidence in court.
• Executor - The person appointed to settle an estate / handle the probate process; also Executrix (if female). 
• Decedent - The person who died 
• Last Will and Testament - A legally binding document that details what to do with someone’s belongings when they pass.
• Letters Testamentary - Legal document from probate court that gives an executor the right to access the deceased’s accounts and belongings. Nowadays, this is often a PDF of a form you’d attach to an email along with a copy of the death certificate and sometimes your ID to prove that you are the person in charge of the decedent’s estate. 
• Letters Administration - Same as letters testamentary except this is the name for when the person didn’t have a will. The exact term can also vary depending on state.
• Beneficiaries - People listed in a will as recipients of an estate’s assets. 
• Testate - Passing with a will
• Testator - The person who made the will. 
• Intestate - Dying without a will (testate is dying with a will). 
• Petition for probate - The first form you fill out to initiate probate / appoint an executor
• Domicile - Where the deceased permanently resided in the eyes of the law. 

We’ve built a library of sorts for these terms, too. So for a glossary full of terms you can refer to in the future, check out the Atticus Glossary and bookmark it for later. 

What Do Executors of Estates Do?

Alright. Enough generalization. Let’s get into what you’ll really be doing. 

How much an executor does varies depending on the complexity of the estate, but the core of what executors do is list, sell, and distribute the estate’s assets as directed by the will or intestacy laws (laws that govern what happens when someone passes without a will) and fill out a truly exhausting number of forms.

A Full List of Executor Responsibilities:

While this is by no means a complete list, here’s a rough step-by-step of everything an executor of an estate does: 

1. Help arrange the funeral 
2. Make sure any assets, pets, and minors are safe and secure. 
3. Find and read the last will & testament (if it exists)
4. Work with the funeral home or partner of the deceased to create and make copies of the death certificate. 
5. File the will with the probate court in the domicile of the deceased.
6. Buy a gift card to your favorite restaurant or pick up a nice bottle of wine (more on this later). 
7. Figure out what level of probate makes the most sense for you.
8. Determine if hiring legal help is worth it or not (it depends). 
9. Fill out the petition for probate form to be formally appointed as the executor. 
10. Receive your letters testamentary or letters of administration, which give you access to more sensitive information and accounts. 
11. Before selling or throwing anything away, make a complete list of inventory assets and categorize them by probate and non-probate (start your list).
12. Submitting that list to the court and beneficiaries. 
13. Open up a temporary estate account to funnel money into. 
14. Start tracking all expenses you incur during this process (just like a business would).
15. Contact all banks, investment companies, and other financial institutions and begin sending that money into the estate account. 
16. Filing a notice to all creditors (do that right now) to make a claim against the estate. 
17. Determine total debt of the estate. 
18. Balance the will’s wishes against demands of creditors. 
19. Begin paying off debt from the estate account. 
20. Sell any unwanted or non-designated assets and add that money to the estate account’s pool of cash. 
21. Assist with retitling any other ownership transfers as needed.
22. Keep beneficiaries and courts up to date by delivering reports. 
23. Help resolve any familial disputes. 
24.  File a tax return on behalf of the estate, including any inheritance and estate taxes if applicable. 
25. Give all physical assets and goods to the people defined in the will.
26. Take the remaining money in the estate account and divide it among the beneficiaries as designated in the will or intestacy laws. 
27. Close the estate account.
28. Fill out any final forms the court requires. 
29. Take a deep breath and go to that restaurant and/or crack that wine (you’ll deserve it). 

And when you factor in all the communication between families and the courts, selling things like houses (which involves real estate agents and the works), and usually having a job on top of all of this, the “being executor lasts a year and 500+ hours” starts to make a little more sense.

ATTICUS ADVICE: 

It’s a lot to do, we’ll be frank. That’s why Atticus made a completable checklist and relevant tools (looking at you, asset inventory report generator). And we’re willing to bet that after the scope of what executors do sinks in… you’ll be thinking — so is there any way to make this faster? Well, yes. Yes there is. 

How Executors of an Estate are Appointed

How executors are appointed depends on whether or not a will exists. 

How executors are appointed when a will exists? 

Testators, or people who create wills, put their desired executor in the will document. This usually includes a backup or two if the original executor isn’t available. 

So once a family member finds the will, take a look in and see who the deceased wanted to take the job. 

Once the will is filed at the probate court where the deceased live, the court will recognize, or “appoint” the executor and give them a formal document that, in effect, says “you are the executor and therefore has the ability to collect and distribute all assets of this deceased person.”

These are known as your letters of administration or letters testamentary. 

How executors are appointed when there is no will? 

When there isn’t a will, the beneficiaries choose an executor, who then must “petition the court” to become the appointed executor. This is normally solved without disagreement, but if a conflict arises at this point the courts will get involved and choose who they think should be the executor. 

How to decline being an executor?

If you’ve been chosen as the executor of a will or estate and don’t think you can handle it, or think someone else would do a better job, you have the full right to decline the position via a form that you deliver to the local probate court and/or probate clerk. 

What if no one wants to be the executor?

If no one wants to be the executor, the court will choose someone.

At the end of the day, navigating probate is a legal requirement— someone has to do it. If everyone said no, it’d be like refusing to show up to court or ignoring a subpoena. This is the law, after all.

Do Executors Get Paid?

Yup, yup, yup. The good news is that executors do get paid. So while you will be spending a lot of time on this, you will get a kickback from the estate in an amount that is approved by the probate court or set out in the will. 

The executor is working on behalf of the estate, so they are entitled to an executor fee by law. Probate codes vary by state, but executor fees can be based on a percentage of the value of the estate, or a flat rate fee, or an hourly rate. 

When the executor fee is based on a percentage, the rate is usually tiered based on the value of the estate, such as 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000 and so on. Typically, the fee arrangement is determined by the will, but if the will is silent, then state law applies. 

In some situations, an executor may also have to perform “extraordinary duties”, such as handling litigation and managing a business on behalf of a decedent. In these cases executors can ask the court to up their compensation. 

It’s also common for executors to be beneficiaries as well. Say a son or daughter, or the spouse. In these cases the executors can just waive their fees since they know they’ll get a cut at the end either way & may want to avoid any potential disputes with other family members or beneficiaries.

When Executors Can Be Held Financially Liable

We get this good question (a lot) — can  an executor screw up so badly that they are responsible for a bunch of money on behalf of the estate? 

The answer is yes, but that’s pretty rare and you have to mess up bad. 

So unless a royal error occurs, executors are not responsible for the debts of an estate; they are simply responsible for resolving those debts. If they resolve them incorrectly, then sure, that could be an issue, but that is rare and can be easily avoided.

That being said, here’s when things can get hairy:

When an executor fails, neglects, or abuses their duties

If an executor isn’t taking any action or is refusing to give certain beneficiaries their rightful inheritance, then the probate court can fine an executor. 

You can also be sued for:

• Taking too long to resolve an estate 
• Making egregious decisions with regard to the estate’s assets 
• Not following what the will says 
• Lying to beneficiaries to pocket more cash from the estate 
• Any other illegal actions 

For example, let’s say out of spite an executor sells a piece of real estate for 50% of its real value to a friend of a friend, decimating the funds meant to be given to beneficiaries. If the beneficiaries can prove that abuse in court, the executor could be liable for the damages and more. 

When an executor over-distributes assets

Or on the more benign side, if an executor distributes assets to beneficiaries too early, as in before all debts and taxes are paid, and then realizes that they need to get that money back to pay those debts, they could be liable for those tax and debt burdens. 

This is why probate bonds exist — essentially a form of insurance to protect against this risk. 

Some states require them, others don’t, but if you’re worried about it, probate bonds can offer some peace of mind.

How to Find a Good Executor If You’re Creating a Will

So what makes a good executor? 

Well, pretty much the same traits that make someone a good professional or student, really. So whether you’re making a will and thinking through who to choose or are wondering if you have what it takes to be an executor, here’s what to look for: 

Responsible — the process of navigating probate and settling an estate includes a lot of time-sensitive and materially important tasks, and often lasts anywhere from 9-18 months. To be effective in their role, you have to be able to sustain a high level of responsibility throughout the course of the entire process.

Organized — serving as an executor means interacting with a lot of different individuals and inventorying access to a lot of different assets or accounts. After all, an executor is entrusted to organize & bring a close to everything one did during their lifetime. Managing a task this big requires an intentional approach to staying organized. 

‍Trustworthy — executors are entrusted with the ultimate responsibility of organizing and facilitating distribution of one's estate assets. As such, it's imperative that an executor maintains a level of transparency & accuracy when documenting their actions in the form of understandable estate accountings, probate forms & inheritance reports. 

Selflessness — serving as an executor requires making thoughtful decisions in the best interests of the testator, the estate and rightful beneficiaries. While personal or professional experience may help impact important decisions, when in doubt, an executor must consider "what would the [deceased loved one] do in this situation," as opposed to what they might ordinarily do for their own situation.

Stewardship — Since probate and estate settlement can take so long, it's a good idea to appoint someone with a general sense of stewardship to serve as executor so that they can prudently safeguard & invest any assets throughout that time period to prevent negative financial loss of inheritance to rightful heirs. 

‍Impartial — it's not uncommon for executors or co-executor(s) to also be beneficiaries of the estate. In situations when there are other beneficiaries, executors have a moral and legal obligation to remain impartial with decisions involving any actual or perceived conflicts of interest.

How to Succeed as an Executor

In short, do your research, use existing tools designed to make this easier, and don’t be afraid to hire legal help if your estate demands it. 

But… we’ll give you a bit more than that. 

‍‍1. Use good estate settlement tools

Sure, you could do all of the expense tracking, collecting of assets, and research on your own… but that’s like using scissors to cut a golf course instead of using an industrial mower. There’s no point in making it that hard. We get choosing the hard way sometimes, but this isn’t it. 

Some good ones to start with:

• File notice to creditors in 5 minutes
• Asset Inventory Creation Tool
• Instant Downloads of Probate Forms by State and Jurisdiction 
• Court-Ready Report Generator 
• Atticus Executor Library of Terms
• Step-by-step list of estate settlement steps you can check off

Spoiler… we made all of these and no one else made them quite as good as us. 

2. Get your letters as early as possible 

Your letters unlock sensitive accounts like IRAs, 401Ks, safe deposit boxes, etc. Without them, you won’t get very far, so petition early to get the best head start on navigating the process efficiently. 

3. Opt for the lowest level of probate

The less you can get the courts involved, the faster beneficiaries get their inheritance and the less time you’ll spend. The problem is, you can only go up in levels of probate, not down. So if you start with a much more involved version of probate from the beginning by accidentally asking for the wrong one, you can waste a lot of time.

For a breakdown on that, go to our What is Probate guide. 

4. Use a lawyer if your estate is complex, there’s a dispute, or your state requires it.

You don’t have to have a lawyer unless your state requires it.

As of writing this, the states that require you to have a probate lawyer, or at least the ones that you will likely need one in, include:

• Hawaii
• Missouri for estates over $40k
• North Carolina if you don’t live in the same state as the deceased
• North Dakota if going through formal probate
• Texas except in special situations, e.g. the executor is also the sole beneficiary of the testate estate and there are no debts against the estate other than those secured by liens against real estate.
• Arizona - Can get around a probate lawyer if you complete a certification and present the Certificate of Completion to the Probate Court.

But even if they aren’t required, the more complex your estate, meaning the more assets, houses, and things involved, the more useful a lawyer and tax expert will be. You probably don’t need one if you’re dealing with one house, but if you have a network of 5 houses across multiple states and countries and need to dissolve a business, that can get tricky. 

Disputes are also always a trigger for getting a lawyer. No one wants them, but the truth is sometimes inheritances rip families apart — especially if they weren’t very close to begin with. So if something is brewing, it’s best to seek legal counsel. 

5. Get a probate bond if you’re worried about liability 

Probate bonds, like we mentioned above, are a sort of insurance executors can get in case they really mess up with the sell assets –> pay debts –> distribute inheritance bit. Some states even require them, but if you’re dealing with a big estate and a lot of moving parts, it’s smart to get a bit of insurance.

Other Probate & Estate Settlement Resources for Estate Executors

Here are a few other resources that will help! 

Dealing With Loss & Grief

(don’t forget about your mental health!)

• Good Grief — site full of resources about handling grief
• Therapist Directory — directory for therapists by city 
• BetterHelp — online therapy 

Planning Memorials

• Legacy.com — Advice, online memorials, and obituary submissions
• How to Write an Obituary Guide
• How Long After Someone Passes Away to Have a Funeral

Hiring Lawyers

• Probate Lawyer Directory
• Probate Court and Clerk Directory
• Lawyers.com — Search for probate lawyers

Getting Financial Assistance

• Connect with Financial Advisor — through the Atticus Probate & Estate Settlement app 
• Financial Advisor Learning Center — Site by Schwab on all things financial planner
• Probate Bonds — just Google “probate bonds near me”. 
• Atticus Trusted CPAs, Accountants, and Trust Advisors.
• Estate and Inheritance Taxes By State:

Finding Estate Assets

• MIB Life Insurance Policy Locator — Search for life insurance policies
• How to Find a Will
• How to Access a Safe Deposit Box
• Unclaimed.org — Search assets of the deceased
• National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits — Double check that there aren’t any 401k's or retirement accounts you weren’t aware of. 
• PBGC Pension Search — Search for unclaimed American pensions. 
• Finding Canadian Pensions — Search for Canadian pensions. 

Assessing Asset Values

• Appraisers Association of America — Fine and decorative art appraisals 
• American Society of Appraisers (ASA) — Asset appraisals by type 

General End-of-Life Resources

• Funeralocity — Compare funeral home costs
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — General / helpful end-of-life information 
  

FAQs about Estate Executors:

Here’s a lot of what we hear executors ask. If you didn’t find your answer here, please drop a comment at the bottom of this article, join and ask our community, or email us at support@weareatticus.biz 

What if no one wants to be the executor of an estate?

Someone has to be, and if the family can’t decide the court will. 

How much does an executor get paid?

Typically a sliding percent scale of the estate’s value but can be determined in the will and/or by the court. See a more complete explanation earlier in this article. 

How can you remove an executor? 

Executors have a fiduciary duty to carry out the wishes of the will or local intestate laws. If you think they are being negligent, aren’t capable of doing the job correctly, have a conflict of interest, or other “grossly” egregious issue, beneficiaries or other “interested parties” can ask for the executor to be removed. This usually involves litigations so if you’re considering this, it’s time to lawyer up. 

Does a court have to approve an executor? 

Yes. The court must officially appoint and approve the executor will or without a will. This is what initiates probate. 

Do they always approve the appointed executor?

Unless a beneficiary objects, there are very few reasons why a court would object to someone’s appointment. 

Does an executor have more power than a beneficiary?

It depends on the stipulations of the will. Executors are bound to them, whatever they are. And if the executor is attempting to make alterations or doing something that may go against the will, it usually requires the signatures of all beneficiaries or interested parties. 

CONGRATS! If you made it this far, you should have a solid grasp on the big executor questions that trip up a lot of people. The best time to start is now, so grab your checklist and start making your inventory of assets!