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When you are writing or updating your
will, it is important to carefully consider your choice of an executor.
This role, a largely administrative one, comes with huge responsibility
and can be extensive and time consuming. The work begins at the time of
death, from locating the will, and continues until taxes and debts have
been paid and what is left has been distributed in accordance with the
will. The objective is to ensure that all the deceased person wishes
are properly carried out.

It is important to pick someone whom
you know will be committed and wiling to accept the legal
responsibility and of course, someone you feel able to trust.
Naturally, you also want your executor to be someone who is quite
healthy and likely to survive you; for this reason it makes sense to
consider someone younger than you.

Should you choose a family member?

There are some advantages to choosing
an executor with whom you have a close personal relationship and many
people nominate a close relative to perform this role. One must be
conscious of the fact that a trusted family member is likely to be
emotionally affected by the loss and may find it unduly stressful to
handle executive responsibilities so soon. There will be a need for
absolute objectivity and impartiality without the emotional drain of
being at the centre of any potential family feud.

Where you decide to nominate one of
your adult children, you should be conscious of the fact that the
appointed child will have more power than his or her siblings; you want
to ensure that this doesn’t end up creating conflict instead of
ensuring that your family stays united after your death. An executor
should not have any conflict of interest and ideally a beneficiary to
an estate should not be the sole executor as the position can be used
to gain advantage in the distribution of property.

A common choice for many is a relative
who happens to be a lawyer. Whilst being a lawyer does have advantages
in performing an executor’s role, it is by no means absolutely
necessary. The most important thing is that it is someone that is
intellectually capable, financially responsible, and has the time to
pay attention to what could be the administration of extensive
financial and legal matters and has the respect of family members.

Or should you choose a professional?

An alternative to choosing a relation
or close friend is to engage the services of professionals that have
some expertise in estate planning such as a trust company or a law
practice; they would assign an individual or team to handle your estate
matters. There are stories abound of weaknesses in the role so it is
important to seek out a strong, credible company that comes
recommended, to protect your family from the possibility of an
unscrupulous or incompetent executor mismanaging their inheritance.

It can be expensive to hire the
services of a professional executor; indeed many will only deal with
estates above a certain value; this is appropriate for someone with
complicated intentions or a very large estate but largely out of the
reach of most people. If you choose to engage the services of a
professional, agree their fees in advance. Some will charge an up-front
fee, whilst others may arrange to take their fee from estate
distributions or a percentage of the value of the estate.

One of the benefits of a professional
executor is the existence of a somewhat formal relationship. In our
society where family relationships are so intertwined, whilst it does
help to have a little distance to make for objective decision-making, a
deep personal knowledge of the vagaries of a particular family is often
required. The family would value fairness, flexibility and sympathy
particularly where there are complex arrangements. It is important that
your executors should work closely with you during your planning stage
to develop an in depth understanding of your intentions so that they
are more able to carry out your wishes in accordance with your
instructions.

Naming multiple executors to provide
checks and balances on the decision-making process makes sense, but
remember that the executors must usually agree on all decisions and
sign off on all paperwork, which can become cumbersome.

Have a backup

Revisit your choice of executor once a
year to make sure you still want them to perform this role. Often there
might be reason why you think they may no longer be appropriate. If you
do decide to make a change, don’t forget to have the documents amended
as early as possible to reflect this to be sure that your wishes are
indeed carried out. It is also wise to have a backup in case your first
choice is unable or unwilling to perform the tasks when the time comes.
An advantage of engaging an institution to act as executor for your
estate is that it offers continuity.

Trust, Trust, Trust

Because your executor would be party to
intimate knowledge of your family’s assets, and their actions can have
far reaching consequences on the future of those assets, your primary
consideration should be to choose someone or an institution that you
can trust totally; if they disregard your wishes, they can be sued,
along with your estate, and tie it up in litigation for several years.
In the final analysis, it won’t matter to you what happens since you
will not be there, but you do owe it to your loved ones to try to leave
things as orderly as possible.

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