When you or your client are selecting an executor (or liquidator in Quebec), or when your client is deciding whether to act as an executor or liquidator, it is important to consider the duties and responsibilities that this would entail, and whether you or the person you are considering have the ability and desire to perform the functions. This decision gets more complicated where the assets in question include business assets or assets in other jurisdictions.
Beyond having the administrative duties that will be discussed below, an executor is a fiduciary who has moral and ethical duties to act honestly, reasonably and in the best interests of the beneficiaries. The executor holds the estate “in trust” for the beneficiaries and must be impartial, avoid conflict of interests, not comingle estate property with their own, or use estate property personally. An executor is typically expected to complete the administration of the estate within one year (often called the “executor’s year”), but this may not be possible for complex estates or estates subject to litigation. Continue reading “Duties of an Executor – What Your Client Should Consider”
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