How to Choose the Right Executor for Your Estate

When you create a will or trust, an executor is needed. This person is someone chosen to manage your affairs and handle asset distribution when you are no longer here. While you’re free to choose most anyone you wish to serve as executor, you do not want to choose the wrong person to handle this very important affair. How can you select the right executor for your will or trust? A law firm creve coeur mo can make the process much easier.

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The person selected as executor of your estate is responsible to file paperwork in the county that you reside. This paperwork states the individual is the executor of the estate. The executor should then notified interested parties of your death and handle any claims made against the estate. The executor then inventory’s the property, including all accounts, monies owed, and personal effects. The inventory list should then be provided to the courts to review. Bills owed should be paid, and the executor should also collect monies owed to you. If there is a business involved in the estate, the executor may or may not handle this property, too.

Taxes are another area in which an executor must handle. You are responsible for filing an additional tax refund after death, paying any monies owed to Uncle Sam and handling any other monies due and payable. The executor should handle filing of the taxes as well as payment of any monies owed.

The job of an executor is oftentimes complex and time-consuming. It is important that you choose someone to serve this position who doesn’t mind the work, whom you trust, and who you know is dependable, reliable, and ready to help ensure that your final wishes are carried out as you wish. Be sure to get approval before assigning anyone to serve as the executor of the estate. And finally, be sure to choose an executor who isn’t named as a beneficiary on your estate, and avoid using family members, since these people can create potential conflict of interest.