Executors are sometimes pressured to make distributions too soon. They often are also family members and heirs to the decedent’s fortunes and succumb to the demands made by fellow heirs expecting an inheritance. Money has a habit of changing the attitudes of a lot of people, but an executor’s job isn’t simply to distribute wealth, but to make sure that all debts and liabilities are discovered and resolved satisfactorily, whether through payment in full or at negotiated discounts, and to handle and close out other affairs that the decedent may have had to handle day-to-day. Distributing assets too soon may result in insufficient assets to pay off creditors. That may leave the executor personally liable for the debt, so clearly, adequate reserves must be maintained to ensure the payment of all of the decedent’s debts, prior to a complete distribution of the estate.

The list of duties of the executor is very long. It ranges from dealing with attorneys and the court system to probate the will and transfer assets; finding and marshalling all of the assets which requires going through all of the decedent’s personal belongings, records and documents, and dealing with various institutions such as banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies and the decedent’s employer; determining the value of the assets which may involve dealing with various appraisal concerns, as well as safeguarding those assets, such as guarding and boarding up a home until it can be disposed of; dealing with all of the decedent’s creditors, including the hospital that the decedent may have been treated at and the funeral home, to the more mundane utility or cell phone bill; continuing business ventures while the estate process is proceeding, managing rental property and landlord-tenant affairs; winding up the last affairs of the decedent, such as turning off utility service, selling the home, and closing out credit cards and various Internet-based accounts; dealing with CPAs and the tax authorities to file tax returns and clear any tax situation such as income and estate taxes; and finally, dealing with heirs who may be grieving, and predators seeking to take advantage of the death.

Many of the duties of the executor may also involve personal responsibility and liability. As you can see, this isn’t an easy job. In many cases, no one is going to be thanking the executor, but rather finding fault with the executor’s actions. That’s why a thorough understanding of the job is required and the person must have the capabilities and fortitude to tackle this major responsibility.

Victor Ngai, JD, CLU, ChFC, is assistant vice president, advanced planning, for The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.

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