When you are making a last will and testament as part of your estate plan, you are going to need to name someone who will be the executor or administrator of the estate. This is a person who you are entrusting with tremendous responsibility after your death, so the decision of who should be the executor of the estate is not one that you should take lightly.
Our firm can provide you with help understanding the role of an executor so you can make the best and most informed choices as to who you want fulfilling this obligation after you are gone. We can also help you with all aspects of creating your last will and testament and identifying the estate planning issues you need to address. Give us a call today at (916) 437-3500 to speak with a Sacramento estate planning lawyer and learn more.
You can also check out three tips below for making certain you select the right executor when you are drafting the will that will determine your legacy.
1. Choose someone who you can count on
An executor has tremendous responsibility after you have passed on. They are ultimately the ones who will go through all of the steps required to settle your estate and make sure that your legacy is secure. You need to make absolutely certain that you are selecting someone who will do the right things.
Executors are considered fiduciaries. This means they have a fiduciary duty, which is the highest duty or legal obligation that any person can have under the eyes of the law. Fiduciaries are never allowed to act in their own best interests when they are making decisions while carrying out their duties. Instead, their focus must be on acting in the best interest of those who they have a fiduciary obligation to. They must put the estate and your beneficiaries first.
While this is a legal requirement, it can be difficult for heirs to determine if executors are always doing the right thing and hard for them to take action against an executor who isn’t. You don’t want to make life difficult for those you have left behind by selecting an executor who doesn’t live up to their obligations and do everything possible to protect your estate and carry out your instructions to the letter.
To make sure this doesn’t occur, you want to select someone to act as the executor of your estate who you have 100% confidence will do the right thing and work hard to carry out your wishes.
2. Choose someone comfortable with the requirements
There’s a lot that an executor must do after a typical death. This includes a wide range of tasks including obtaining the death certificate showing you have passed away, notifying creditors and heirs about your death and the upcoming probate proceedings, maintaining your assets appropriately to protect and preserve their value, filing court paperwork with the right probate court, submitting the will to be probated, tracking down assets, assessing the value of your estate, filing tax forms, and a long list of other obligations.
Executors also have to do all of these things very soon after you have passed away. This means they may not be in the best mental state if they are coping with grief — especially if your death was not expected.
You need to make sure that you name someone as an executor who you are confident will be comfortable dealing with the logistics of this process even while dealing with the aftermath of your death. You don’t want someone unable to handle the administrative obligations or left stressed about fulfilling their responsibilities which only serves to compound their grief.
3. Choose someone who can effectively manage your assets
Finally, you need to think about who is going to be able to effectively manage the money and the property that you are leaving behind. While this money and property should eventually move to the control and ownership of the heirs you have chosen, the probate process can take a long time to make that happen. It can take months or even a year or longer for the probate process to be completed. Usually, during that time, the executor of the estate is in charge of trust assets.
You need to make sure the person who you are choosing as executor has the knowledge and level of responsibility necessary to manage your assets as effectively as possible in order to protect and preserve their value. Since they will be in charge for a while, you can’t really afford to select anyone who can’t help with asset protection and preservation through effective management after your death.
You should carefully consider all of these key issues when you decide who should take on the role as executor of your estate. It’s also worth remembering that selecting the executor is just one of many key decisions you will have to make when you create your last will and testament. It’s a good idea to get legal help as you make these choices. We are here to assist you throughout the process of planning your legacy. Give us a call at (916) 437-3500 to talk with a Sacramento estate planning lawyer about your estate planning process and to get help creating a trust, last will and testament and other estate planning tools.
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