The duties and responsibilities of an executor or personal representative of an estate are many. For the remainder of this article I’ll simply refer to an executor, but when doing so am also referring to a personal representative.
Essentially, they will administer the estate while going through probate as well as probate the estate.
Some of the main responsibilities of an executor in BC are as follows:
Take possession of the deceased’s assets
While an estate is being probated, somebody needs to manage assets of the estate. This duty falls to the executor.
Paying debts
If there are debts owed by the deceased, they must be paid from the estate. The executor is responsible for paying debts.
Managing investments
If an estate has investments, an executor may have to make decisions about those investments
Insuring assets
Insurance policies may need to be renewed or new policies purchased by the executor.
Accounting of activities
While managing the assets and debts of an estate, an executor must maintain proper accounting of all activities.
Managing business interests of the deceased
If the deceased was a business owner, an executor may have to deal with interim management of the business until the business interests are transferred to beneficiaries.
Practical duties
* The practical duties of an executor include searching for and arranging for safekeeping of personal property such as cash, jewelry, furniture, etc. * The deceased’s properties must be looked after and managed. * All of the financial institutions with which the deceased had accounts or dealings must be notified of the death. * In the event the estate has assets, appraisals may need to be arranged.
Please note that the above is a list of the common duties of an executor in BC. There may be other duties depending on the nature of the estate.
Does an executor get paid for doing these duties?
Yes, the executor can be remunerated from the estate for these duties.
What if an executor doesn’t want these duties?
An executor can do 1 or 2 things.
1. Hire a solicitor to help administer and probate the estate.
This is the most common approach with getting help with administrating an estate. Note that an executor will still be involved and will need to instruct a solicitor about the estate.
The solicitor can be a great help in tracking down beneficiaries, dealing with creditors and financial institutions, and of course processing the documents for probating the estate.
If an executor hires a solicitor, if the solicitor takes care of duties normally performed by the executor, the executor does not get paid because they did not actually perform the tasks.
How is a solicitor paid?
A solicitor hired to probate an estate is paid from the estate.
2. Renounce the executorship.
An executor can renounce the executorship in writing.
Please keep in mind that these are general duties of an executor and specifics may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
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