What does an executor do? I get this question a lot from people who are curious about what an executor of an estate does especially if the decedent’s estate will need to be probated. An executor is a person nominated in someone’s will who is in charge of finalizing or finishing out the decedent’s business affairs. Many people do not realize how much work and effort are involved in being an executor.
An executor is not in control of all the money, free to do whatever he or she pleases. For starters, an executor is charged with the task of paying off the estate’s creditors and closing out the decedent’s final business affairs. The executor is responsible for being the point person responsible in probating a decedent’s estate. The executor is also in charge of arranging to have all the decedent’s property, both personal and real, evaluated and appraised for purposes of probate. After those tasks are completed, the executor is then charged with distributing the estate per the terms of the will to beneficiaries and heirs.
The executor may also be charged with other tasks that are not normal in an ordinary probate, such as running the decedent’s business until it can be sold or closed, settling debts, and/or initiating a lawsuit on behalf of the estate. For all this work, an executor is entitled to receive compensation based on the value of the estate. So the notion that the executor is in control of and has discretion to do what he or she pleases is false. The executor has a duty to both the creditors and the beneficiaries to follow the law and the terms of the will in order to carry out the wishes of the decedent, balanced with ensuring that obligations of the estate are paid.
