When Julia Chung settled the estates of two uncles earlier this year, grief made the executor work harder to manage. “When you’re experiencing grief at the same time, which I definitely have been, there were moments where I was like, ‘I literally can’t think,’” she said in Vancouver.
Chung, the CEO of Spring Planning, had to handle the steps that come with closing an estate: arranging the body and funeral or celebration of life, getting death certificates, tracking down the original will and securing property. Executors also have to manage debts, assets and other loose ends, a process that Erin Bury said can run to “hundreds of hours of work.”
Spring Planning and Probate
Bury said the process should take at least a year and may take much longer. She said executors should be ready for probate, the legal process where a court deems a will valid and gives the executor authority to carry it out. The work often continues after that, with beneficiaries to update, banks and service providers to contact, and final tax returns to file.
Executors may also have to spend before the estate can reimburse them. Funeral expenses, lawyers, accountants and bills can come first, while estate funds remain locked until probate is complete. If compensation is not set out in the will, provincial legislation sets limits on what an executor can claim for the time involved.
Cidel Private Bank and liability
Mark Biderman, senior vice-president of trust and legal at Cidel Private Bank, said executors carry a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of beneficiaries. “There’s a legal obligation to manage the assets and pay off the liabilities of the estate in a manner that doesn’t waste the assets. If the estate is going to take a long time to administer, you need to make sure that the investment portfolio is managed correctly, you’re taking reasonable steps to ensure the safety of all of the assets,” he said.
He added that insolvent estates bring added pressure because creditors still have to be paid. “If creditors need to be paid, typically (executors) are the ones holding the bag at the end of the day,” he said. Chung’s experience shows why people who choose someone they love and trust for the role should also consider the hours, the cash outlay and the legal risk that can come with it.
