Role of an Executor for Living Trust

An executor is a person who is appointed to handle the administrative task of disposing of a deceased person's debts and property, including property that was held in the deceased person's revocable living trust.

Generally

Technically, an executor is a person appointed under a will to handle probate of the deceased person's estate. Probate is the legal process for paying off debts and disbursing property (the estate) that belonged to the deceased.

Types

Most commonly, the person named as executor in the will is also the same person named as the successor trustee of the living trust. The same person fills both roles, and this person is commonly simply referred to as the executor.

Significance

The purpose of appointing an executor is to make sure that the deceased person's property does not simply disappear. The executor is in charge of reading the will and the living trust and then paying debts and dispensing property according to the deceased's wishes.

Time Frame

An executor becomes responsible for the deceased's estate immediately upon the deceased's death. Probate and disbursement of the living will can take only one month or less if the estate is small and nobody contests the will or living trust, but if somebody does contest, this process can potentially drag on for years.

Expert Insight

If you are ever appointed executor and/or successor trustee, you have the right to hire an attorney to help you through the process, and you can pay the attorney's fees out of the money in the trust or estate.

References

• "Nolo's Estate Planning Basics"; Attorney Denis Clifford; 2009