It’s never too early to start estate planning. By organizing your assets and making these decisions now, you can ensure your heirs are protected and have peace of mind in the future. As part of your plan, you may create a will. Choosing who to appoint as your executor is an important step. Can you designate a co-executor to help administer your estate? Should you?
An executor must be capable of handling important and often complicated obligations after you are gone. If you are considering naming co-executors of a will, you need to understand the positive and negative situations that may arise. An estate planning attorney at Barron, Rosenberg, Mayoras & Mayoras, P.C, can explain the executor’s duties and responsibilities to help you make the best decision.
Your executor plays an important role in your overall estate planning. Also called a personal representative in Michigan, an executor is responsible for administering your estate. This person is responsible for ensuring that your last wishes are honored and your estate assets are distributed according to the terms of your will. The executor must gather all estate assets, pay related debts and taxes, and close your estate when everything is resolved.
In general, an executor is responsible for handling the legal affairs of the decedent (the person who signed the will). The executor’s duties include doing the following:
Since the executor bears so much responsibility, you should name a trustworthy and responsible person to act as your executor. You may also wonder if it would be wise to name a co-executor. Let’s review the pros and cons of naming co-executors of a will to help you decide.
There are some valid reasons to consider naming co-executors of a will. It is legal and you may have a situation that warrants a co-executor. However, in our experience, naming co-executors usually creates more problems than choosing one person to act. Here are a few situations where a co-executor could be helpful.
Maybe you own a business and your family is not involved in the company. You may consider naming your business partner as a co-executor to help your family resolve the business aspects of your estate.
If your spouse may need some help fulfilling the executor duties due to age, stress, or other concerns you may want a co-executor of a will to take some pressure off your spouse while keeping them involved in resolving your affairs.
Most people name an adult child to act as executor, but what if you have two or more children? To avoid family confrontations, you may designate two children as co-executors to avoid hard feelings. However, as mentioned below, when co-executors of a will are named, you may still create family problems.
While your heart may be in the right place, your choice of executor should not be based on hurt feelings or ensuring everyone has equal say in administering your estate. In our experience, it is usually better to make some difficult decisions early and name only one person to act as your executor. Here are some reasons you should not consider a co-executor of a will.
Co-executors must file all documents together, sign checks together, prepare, sign, and file tax returns, and eventually close the estate together. If a co-executor is not available, these obligations can become burdensome and time-consuming.
If any aspect of the estate administration is in dispute and the co-executors take different positions on the issue, conflicting matters are submitted to the probate court for resolution. Estate litigation takes time to resolve and may incur legal fees which means the beneficiaries eventually receive less from the estate.
When choosing your executor, you should consider where they reside. For example, although your oldest child may be a financially responsible and fair person, if they live in another country, acting as your executor would be challenging. With many documents to sign, business to transact, and other local responsibilities, a local executor can help ensure a smooth estate administration.
If one co-executor does not agree with the terms of the will, they could create family strife by blocking decisions and transactions. We recommend that you choose one executor and then explain your decision to everyone involved to avoid misunderstandings and compromised family relationships.
The short answer is usually no. With co-executors of a will, they must both work together, sign documents together, and make joint decisions. This is one of the main reasons we don’t recommend a co-executor designation. Depending on your circumstances, we may be able to create a unique estate plan to address your concerns without relying on co-executors.
In some situations, it may be necessary to ask the probate court to remove a co-executor. This is a complicated process which takes time and costs money. Although not common, a co-executor could be removed from an estate administration if they are:
To remove a co-executor, the other co-executor must petition the probate court. Related legal costs are paid from the estate assets which means fewer assets for the heirs in the long run.
Estate planning is an important task involving many decisions. Every estate plan is different and you deserve a customized plan that protects your assets, your family, and your peace of mind. While we usually recommend avoiding a co-executor arrangement, we know each situation is different. Our estate planning team can explain the law and help you make the best decisions in your estate planning.
Call (248) 213-9514 or complete our simple online contact form to schedule an appointment with one of our dedicated estate planning attorneys today.
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