Taking on the responsibility of being an executor is a big job that doesn’t come with instructions. When you pass away, the executor is the person who oversees your estate. It’s usually a trusted family member, says a recent article from Kiplinger, “Simple Ways to Make Your Executor’s Job Less of a Pain.” Here are some ways to help your executor fulfill your wishes.
The term “executor” is used to denote the person approved by the court as part of the probate process to distribute assets, while “administrator” is the term used if the person died without a will and the court named a person to manage their estate.
Regardless of the term used, the role of the executor is a serious one. One study reports that the average executor devotes more than 570 hours of work over 18 months, from start to finish.
If the goal is to avoid or minimize probate, an estate planning attorney can help place many assets outside of the probate estate. This is done using trusts and changing accounts to “Pay on Death” or “Transfer on Death.” Make sure to fund a trust once it’s established, or the assets owned by the trust will revert to the estate. You should also be cautious when retitling accounts to avoid inadvertently disinheriting loved ones. If all your cash is in one account and you want it to go to multiple heirs, but you name one person to receive it upon your death, there is no legal requirement for them to share the wealth.
When your executor takes the reins, they’ll need to have some cash to pay for more than a few costs: final year of income tax, medical bills, credit card debt and estate taxes. If you are leaving real estate, will there be cash for the executor to pay for the home’s upkeep?
If all your assets are passed on to others without any left for the estate, they will have to deal with an insolvent estate. Heirs may also find themselves being chased for payments by creditors, who have the right to come after anyone receiving decedent assets for payment of an estate’s debt.
How can you be sure there will be cash to pay for estate debts? One way is to get heirs to agree to pay estate debts in proportion to their inheritance. This can be particularly challenging for families, especially when financial hardships or family disputes are present.
An estate planning attorney can help create an estate plan that protects your assets from probate, while ensuring that there are sufficient funds for the executor to pay debts.
One big way you can help your executor fulfill your wishes is to create and maintain a list of all your assets and debts. With so many of our accounts now online, there are few paper trails to follow. Bank statements, brokerage accounts, credit card bills, mortgage statements, insurance policy payments, etc., are all more likely to be online than in the mail. One suggestion is to create a separate email account for all your financial matters and share it with the person who will be your executor.
Having all these tasks done admittedly takes time. However, it will spare your executor and heirs a great deal of stress, save them time, and let them focus on celebrating your life, not gritting their teeth because there’s so much work to be done. If you would like to learn more about the role of the executor, please visit our previous posts.
Reference: Kiplinger (May 30, 2025) “Simple Ways to Make Your Executor’s Job Less of a Pain.”
Image by Iqbal Nuril Anwar
