Q&A: How far does the executor of the estate’s power goes?
October 30th, 2011 Filed under: Executor Fees — Estate Planning Author
Many of you like the questions and answers on this blog. I just found another one from ‘OneBrilliantMan’ who asks
Say a son is the executor of his mother’s estate for 18 years. Once his mother dies the house goes to the mother’s 2 daughters but not the son. Once that house has been put in the daughter’s name after the mother passes away, is the executor of the estate no longer responsible for the selling of that house? In other words, are the 2 daughters on their own when it comes to selling the house? Does the executor (because he accepted the executor fee… in the thousands of dollars), have a responsibility to make sure the selling of that house goes smoothly or is he out of the picture? After all, the two daughters are not working together to get the house cleaned so they can sell it. Is the executor free of any responsibility of getting things going among the daughters?
Answer: The execitpr’s job is to execute the estate. This means, he is to take care of all transactions necessary to ensure that the property is distributed to the people who the deceased wanted it to go to.In this example, the deceased wanted the property to go to the mother’s two daughters. She did not order it sold, with the proceeds divided, but that the house, itself, go to the daughters. The job of the executor was simply to get letters of executor (depenidng on state, the name changes) and sign a deed, on behalf of the estate, giving the two sisters the property. He is not a real estate broker. He is not anything other than the manager of the estate. Once he signs the deed of the house, his job (as to that asset) is over.Perhaps unfair, but that is the rule.Good luck
Tagged:Law & Ethics
