What does an executor do? A plain-English checklist

Being named executor (some states say personal representative) means you are responsible for settling someone's estate: finding what they owned, paying what they owed, and passing on the rest. Most people do it once in their life, with no training, while grieving. The job is manageable once you can see its shape.

First, what can wait

Very little has to happen in the first week. The funeral, securing the home and finding the will come first. Most of the paperwork can start a week or two later. Our free first-week checklist covers the first seven days.

1. Find the will and the key papers

Look for the original signed will, not a copy. Check the home office, any safe or lockbox, and ask the lawyer who drafted it. Gather recent bank and investment statements, insurance policies, tax returns, deeds and car titles.

2. Order certified death certificates

Most institutions want a certified copy, and some keep it. Count before you order: see how many death certificates you need.

3. Find out whether probate is needed

Probate is the court process that confirms the will and gives the executor legal authority to act. Whether you need it depends on what the person owned and how it was titled, and many states have a simpler process for small estates. Anything with a named beneficiary or a surviving joint owner usually passes outside probate: see five assets a will doesn't control.

4. Get your authority in writing

If probate is needed, the court issues a document, often called letters testamentary or letters of administration. Banks and other institutions will usually ask to see it before they discuss the person's accounts with you.

5. Open an estate bank account

Keep the estate's money separate from your own. The bank will usually ask for the court document and an Employer Identification Number (EIN) for the estate, which you can get free from the IRS.

6. Make an inventory

List everything the person owned and what it was worth on the date of death: accounts, property, vehicles, investments and valuables. Keep copies of the statements you used.

7. Deal with debts in the right order

Write down every bill that arrives, but don't rush to pay whoever calls loudest. State law sets the order in which an estate's debts are paid, and paying out of order can leave an executor personally responsible in some states. Family members are generally not responsible for a relative's debts out of their own pocket, unless they co-signed or shared the account.

8. File the final taxes

A final individual income tax return is due for the year of death. If the estate itself earns $600 or more in income while it is being settled, it files its own return as well (IRS Form 1041). A tax professional is usually worth the fee here.

9. Distribute what is left, and keep a record

Once debts and taxes are paid, the rest goes to the beneficiaries named in the will, or to the heirs set by state law if there is no will. Many courts expect a final accounting that shows every dollar in and out.

Keep a dated log of every call, letter and payment. It is the single most useful thing an executor can do.

How long it takes

A simple estate can be settled in a few months. Larger or more complicated ones often take a year or more, so pace yourself.