You may have been appointed executor of a friend’s or relative’s estate. What does this mean, and what will you be asked to do? You’ll be distributing the deceased person’s property and arranging for payment of estate debts and expenses. You may feel intimidated by the prospect of dealing with legal questions and requirements you don’t understand.
Duties and Responsibilities
As a starting point, you will have to locate relevant documents for the deceased, starting with the will. You must inventory the decedent’s assets and debts and arrange appraisals for the tangible assets that the deceased may have owned. In addition, you must communicate with financial institutions and governmental agencies, manage any property owned, and keep careful records of everything. If the estate includes a home, the house may have to be emptied of possessions and readied for sale. Here is a list of ten common tasks that fall to the executor of an estate:
- Get a copy of the will and file it with the probate court
- Notify banks, credit card companies, and government agencies of the decedent’s death
- Decide what kind of probate is needed
- Represent the estate in court, if necessary
- Set up a bank account for incoming funds and pay any ongoing bills
- File an inventory of estate assets with the probate court
- Maintain real property until it can be sold
- Pay the estate’s debts and taxes
- Distribute assets of the estate as indicated in the probate process
- Dispose of any other property
An Important Commitment
The typical estate takes about 16 months to settle and requires 570 hours of effort, according to a survey by EstateExec, an online tool for executors. Acting as an executor of a larger estate will typically require more of a time commitment. Estates worth $5 million or more typically take 42 months to settle and 1,167 hours to complete. Some of those hours will be hired out to professionals—attorneys, a CPA, or a wealth advisory firm—but the executor must watch over and coordinate efforts.
In addition, disputes among heirs of an estate are not uncommon. You may find yourself in the role of referee when the heirs disagree about how the assets were divided. They may disagree with some of your judgment calls, such as whether to spend the estate’s money to fix up a house for sale.
The role of executor requires time, effort, and emotional commitment. Most states’ laws allow for an executor to be compensated for time spent in managing the estate, but as a friend or family member, you may wish to decline payment.
