Being named as Estate Trustee (sometimes referred to as “Executor”) of someone’s estate – whether the person is a family member or a friend – can be both an honour and a challenge.
Obviously, the person who passed away has great confidence in the person named in the will to be the Estate Trustee.
But the role of Estate Trustee can be time consuming and emotional.
Usually the work of the Estate Trustee will not be completed in a few short weeks. It may take several months before everything is finished. In fact, there is a common law rule called “The Executor’s Year.” This rule is designed to give the Estate Trustee one year to administer the estate before the beneficiaries have a legal entitlement to their share of the estate. Of course, if the estate becomes complex because of any number of reasons, that “one year rule” does not apply and the Estate will take longer. Even when everything is completed except for the final distribution to the beneficiaries, it can take months to receive the Clearance Certificate from Canada Revenue Agency.
If the person who passed away is related to the Estate Trustee, the Estate Trustee is going to find it very emotional to do the work of the Estate Trustee. There will be some days when the Estate Trustee will have every intention of doing some work, but then is overcome with emotion to such an extent that the Estate Trustee cannot do any work on the file that day. And that is just a fact of life. Don’t beat yourself up if it happens !
Partial Checklist for Estate Trustee(s)
This is only a Partial Checklist of Some of the Duties of the Lawyer and of the Estate Trustee (formerly known as the Executor) in an Estate. We have a more complete Checklist which we give to our Clients.
This Checklist is a Generic List. In other words, not all of these Duties will be applicable to every Estate.
This material has been prepared by us for your reference and assistance. If you have questions, please contact us.