Who should I appoint as my executor?

There are some legal, practical and emotional considerations that need to be factored in when it comes to appointing the right people to act as your executors.

As always, there is no ‘one approach suits all’ strategy in terms of appointments.

While the executor role is largely administrative, there is still room for dispute and this needs to be factored in when making multiple appointments.

Where more than one executor is appointed, it is important that they will be able to work together in order to ensure the directions under the will and associated tasks are carried out.

Even simple decisions in relation to funeral arrangements or engaging a firm to assist with probate can cause disagreement between the executors and cause unnecessary delay.

This is particularly relevant for clients who have multiple adult children. There can often be the attitude or assumption that even if there are known tensions between the children, they should be united in the decision-making, however unfortunately, this is not always the case.  Then comes in the emotional issues that need to be managed where it is decided that one child is chosen or left out as executor.

Some tips that may be useful in terms of multiple appointments are as follows:

1. Consider practically who will be best placed to fulfil the executor role – there are a number of documents that require ‘wet’ signing by all executors;

2. If there are known existing tensions between any of the proposed executors, they should not be appointed together;

3. Including an independent or professional executor to act instead or as a co-executor;

4. Using the letter of wishes to explain the rationale behind the executor appointments, particularly if one child has been nominated or excluded;

5. Using the letter of wishes to set out directions and expectations in relation to the decisions the executors may need to make (funeral arrangements, division of assets, etc) to take some pressure of decision making; and

6. Where the family relationships permit, have an open discussion about the appointments to ensure all expectations are managed.