When you select an executor for your estate, you may focus primarily on picking someone who you feel you can trust.
However, that should only be one part of your criteria. After all, this is a complex role that requires a lot of a person.
Managing the funeral
Executor.org discusses the duties of an executor. One of the most important duties: managing the funeral and other end-of-life arrangements.
Generally, the executor will follow the decedent’s will or estate plan when carrying out post-mortem matters. This includes paying for cremation or burial services, along with related items like headstones, coffins, urns or more.
The money for these arrangements will often get taken out of the estate’s overall assets.
Handling beneficiaries
On top of that, executors also have to deal with beneficiaries as it is their job to hand out assets in accordance with the will. This means it is important for executors to have a good idea of how to discuss somewhat delicate matters with people in varying states of grief.
Dealing with expenses and debts
However, executors cannot deal with beneficiaries until they have successfully settled any debts or outstanding payments first. This includes paying the decedent’s final taxes, settling any debts like credit card debts or loans, and more.
Executors use assets from the estate to do this. The remaining assets then get divided among the beneficiaries as stated.
Thus, the duties that an executor faces are complex and detailed. A potential executor should understand exactly what they are going into before agreeing.
