Choosing an executor without starting a family argument

What an executor actually does

Your executor gathers everything you owned, pays what you owed, applies to the Supreme Court for probate if a grant is needed, and distributes what is left according to the will. In a straightforward estate that is six to twelve months of intermittent, unglamorous work.

They are also personally liable if they get it wrong. An executor who pays out early and then meets a family provision claim can find themselves making up the shortfall from their own pocket.

• Locates the original will and proves the death
• Applies for probate and answers any requisitions
• Closes accounts, transfers or sells assets, pays the debts
• Lodges the final tax returns for you and for the estate
• Distributes the estate and accounts for it in writing

One, two, or four

One executor with a named substitute is the usual answer and much the simplest to run. Two can work where both are genuinely willing, but then every decision needs both signatures and every form needs two people in two places. The court will not grant probate to more than four.

Appointing two children so that neither feels overlooked is the most common reason we see an estate stall. If the point is fairness, deal with it in the gifts rather than in the appointment.

What to look for

Being a beneficiary is not a conflict. Most executors inherit, and that is ordinary. What matters more is whether the person can hold a line when a relative wants their share early and is upset about it.

• Organised, and reachable by phone
• Comfortable saying no to family
• Young enough to outlive you, in all likelihood
• Living in Australia, ideally in Victoria
• Willing, because nobody can be made to act

When a professional is the kinder choice

Sometimes the right answer is nobody in the family at all. A blended family, a business that has to keep trading, a beneficiary with a disability, a challenge you can see coming, siblings who have not spoken in a decade: in each of those, naming one relative over another hands them a fight rather than a duty.

We act as executor where it helps. We charge for the work at our ordinary rates rather than as a percentage of the estate, and we will tell you the likely figure before you decide. For most estates it is less than people assume.

Ask them first

Tell the person you intend to name, and tell them where the original will is kept. An executor can renounce, but only before they begin dealing with the estate, and a renunciation at the wrong moment costs weeks.

Then tell the rest of the family who you chose. That conversation is easier now, in your own words, than it will be in a meeting room the week after your funeral.

Before you act on any of this

This is general information about the law in Victoria, not advice about your own family or your own will. The right appointment depends on who is available, what you own, and how well everyone gets on.

Call us on (03) 9000 1200 and talk it through. Fifteen minutes on the phone, free, and we will say plainly whether you need us.