What does it mean to be an executor to a will?

Question

I am the executor to my mother’s will. Her estate and will is simple and straightforward. What should I do to start educating myself about probate and executing the will?
What procedures do I go through?
Do I need a solicitor?

Answer 1

In a will there are few people named, the beneficiaries, the executors & the administrators, usually (but not always), the people who are named as beneficiaries are the administrators & the executors of the said will. After the death of the execute of the will the executors move the court of jurisdiction that decide the probation of such will (where validity of the will is checked) & seek a letter/an order for the administration of the will .If there is a separate person who is named the executor in the will, he shall take letter/order of administration from the court & get the person named as the beneficiary in the will receive the property named in the said will, once the process of transfer of the property is done in favor of the beneficiary the will be said to be have probated completely. In your case if you are named the executor in the will then move the civil court for the probation of this will seek an order/ a letter of administration from the court & transfer the property in the name of the beneficiary which I think must be you, so will help of this order of administration that you get from the civil court you can get the property transferred in your name.

Answer 2

An executor is someone named in a will to handle an estate. He (or she) gathers the assets, pay the debts and taxes and distributes the rest to the heirs named in the will.

An executor may not start work until the will is accepted by the court (probate) and the person's appointment by the person who wrote the will is ratified by the judge.

Some jurisdictions require a lawyer (solicitor) to be used; others do not.

Answer 3

Just to correct some incorrect advice you have been given (even apparently from a lawyer!), you do NOT automatically need to obtain probate of the will from a court - this is merely one of the first questions you need to ask yourself (and who would go to court if you don't have to?). (btw - just to help educate another contributor here who calls himself a lawyer, an executor does NOT obtain letters of administration)

An executor must:
1- collect and get in the real and personal estate of the deceased and administer it according to law;
2 - distribute the estate;
3 - if required, pay interest on certain legacies;
4 - if required, exhibit on oath to the court a full inventory of the estate and an account of your administration of that estate;
5 - if required (and if obtained), deliver up the grant of probate.

As you are collecting in the assets of the estate, you only need to show the grant of probate if you need to prove to someone else you now have the title to certain assets (or to show them that they can pay a debt to you and that will satisfy their debt to the deceased).

It is usually not necessary for most estates to seek probate from the court, even to the point of allowing the transmission of real property (usually the deceased's home).

Unless there is something particularly complex about the estate, do not waste money paying lawyers like me - there are enough people around in Government departments who will give you all the information and help you need for free.

Answer 4

You may need a little legal advice.If the will was done right and all the parties are in agreement there is no probate. The instructions should be defined in the will. You are in-titled to be paid for your time to execute the will. It is easy if you can all sit down and work through it. The pain comes from parts that are unclear and arguing over them.

Answer 5

As excutor of your mother's will it means that once the will has been read you are incharge of seeing that others named in the will recieve what is theirs. Usually the lawyer handles the will and sees that it goes through probate. All you are required to do is look after any bills that have to be paid from the estate, the funeral arrangements if your mother has not pre-planned her funeral and the selling of any assets that are to be sold and as I said dividing the money between those who are named in the will. But from what you have indicated your mother sounds like she has taken care of things.