A Florida resident who has been named as the executor of someone’s last will and testament has a lot of responsibilities to fulfill. The executor must ensure that the testator’s creditors are all paid off and the remaining property in the estate is correctly distributed to the beneficiaries. While they are not required to have any legal or financial training before beginning their job, they are legally required to execute the estate properly.
An executor cannot derive income from selling property in the estate, but they can pay themselves a fee for their work. What is considered a reasonable executor fee will vary depending on the complexity of an estate. Some wills will be easier to execute than others depending on factors like the number of assets and how easy the assets are to locate.
Executors have a number of different responsibilities in addition to locating a testator’s assets and distributing the assets to beneficiaries. Some of the duties include having the will probated, setting up a bank account for the estate, making mortgage payments and paying final income taxes. An executor may also be required to cancel credit cards and notify financial institutions about the testator’s death.
If they fail to execute a will correctly, executors can be sued for compensation by the testator’s beneficiaries. To avoid the potential for this kind of problem, an executor may want to have assistance from an attorney when carrying out some of the estate administration duties. An attorney may be able to help ensure that the will is probated correctly and help to resolve any disputes outside of court.
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