Will Executor – Things to Consider When Establishing Your Estate
One of the most important components of Will writing is the appointment of an Executor. It seems not many people understand what Executor duties entail.
This article will give an overview what is the role of an Executor and the implication of selecting an individual as your Executor.
What Is Executor?
An Executor is the person or corporate (trust corporation) who is suppose to execute your wishes according to the terms of your Will
What Are the Roles of an Executor?
The Executor will be responsible for the entire administration of an estate until the final distribution of the assets is made to the name beneficiaries. Generally, this person is considered as the most important person in the Will because he or she will acts as the personal representative of the deceased.
These include:
1) Locate the Will.
The Executor need to find, understand the content of the Will and process the Will.
2) Locate and Call in the Assets
The Executor must locate all the assets such as properties, bank accounts, shares, etc. Some of the assets maybe located in overseas.
3) Clear All Debts and Liabilities
It is the Executor responsibility to pay all the debts and liabilities like income tax, debts, mortgage loans, credit card debts etc. It is a best practice for the Executor to advertise in the major news paper to inform the creditors so that they can claim their debts.
4) Distribute the Assets According to the Will
5) Hold the Assets in A Trust
Should there be any minor in the Will beneficiaries; the Executor must hold the assets as a trust until the beneficiaries reached the aged of 18 years old. Thereafter the assets shall be transfer to the beneficiaries.
6) Prepare and Complete Detailed Accounts of the Estate
All the incomes, liabilities and expenses of the whole estate must be recorded in an account and give to the beneficiaries.
As a rule of thumb, you can appoint anyone to be the executor of your estate. Majority will choose their family member, relative or close friend whom they can trust to execute their wishes according to the Will. The executor therefore must be competent to handle the Will such as understand the Malaysian laws, able to communicate and deal with the Lawyers etc.
There are major disadvantages when appointing family member, relative or close friend, as an executor. They may pass away. When this event happen, your Will shall be treated as if he or she had not been appointed.(A Will to be without any Executor). I am sure you don’t wish this thing to happen despite spending money, effort and time to write a Will, right?
Being the executor can be very time consuming task as everybody has their own work and family commitments. They also may face some complicated legal, banking, insurance and taxation matters that require professional knowledge. Have they ever had any experience dealing with Government department such as the Inland Revenue Board, on Will matters?
The entire administration task requires a big commitment as it takes up a lot of time, resources and money. It will potentially create unnecessary additional stress for family or friends at a time of grief. Are they willing to sacrifice their precious time to liaise with the family beneficiary’s member, lawyers, banks, attend court etc. In addition, they may be your close and trusted friend today but this may change over time due to many unforeseen personal and business reasons.
Executor is someone you can truly trust especially when dealing with money matter. Even close families relationship could probably gone sour because of money disputes.
There was a real life incident which happens in Kajang where a father died and living a will. In the Will, the eldest brother was appointed as the Executor. The late father had instructed the executor to transfer his double storey leasehold shop house into three brothers including the eldest brother (executor). The eldest brother advised his two brothers to apply for extension of the lease and thereafter transfer the property into their names. This process was delayed for a couple of few years because the extension of the lease cost over RM 190,000 and they have to appeal for a discount. At the same time, the two siblings instruct their eldest brother to use the rental collected from the shop house to settle the fees. Despite numerous complaints raised by the two siblings that their eldest brother was not transparent in keeping good records on the rental collected from the said property, a legal suit was filed against the eldest brother. The worst thing happen when the two siblings discovered from a third party that the said property have already been transferred into their eldest brother’s sole name and he was offering the property for sale at RM1.7 million. The two siblings ended in a complicated legal battle to claim back their rights. This may take another few years of long legal process. What happen if any of these brothers pass away? A double storey leasehold shop house with suppose three owner can be increase to multiple owners and this will complicated the issue even worst! I am sure the deceased never aware this potential legal wrangle when naming his executor that time. Therefore the next great and wiser choice is to appoint a trust corporation as an Executor to administer the estate. It will eliminate all the above risks and many other problems.
When you appoint a trust corporation like Rockwills Trustee , a licensed Trust Company, as your Executor of your Will, you can be assure all the terms of the Will shall be observed as your wish. They will work closely with your family, settling all liabilities in the estate, protect and distribute the estate in accordance with your Will.
Since they do not have any personal ties and self interest on the estate and well versed in all aspects of estate and trust administration, your instruction shall be carry out with complete professional, impartiality and integrity manner. Rockwills Trustee is staffed by full time qualified and experienced specialists who will always be available to attend to any details of estates and trusts and the needs of beneficiaries, without facing any the uncertainties associated with appointing an individual as Executor.
An experienced Rockwills estate planner that specializes in estate planning can help guide you through the steps required to establish a Will with Rockwills Trustee as your Executor. They can also help you explore other estate planning options better suited to your situation. For a FREE Consultation, call 03-77811993 or visit http://www.rockwills.com
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do communicate well with your appointed executor, most of the individual executors I know of always complain about it is a “waste of their time”. The last I want is for someone to curse me after I die.