Released: August 28, 2006

Being executor is time-consuming—and perhaps risky

Source: BusinessWeek Online

For years, Ellen McLaughlin helped her elderly mother make investment decisions, pay bills, and prepare tax returns. Since her mother died in February, McLaughlin is still doing all that—and more. As executor of her mother’s estate, McLaughlin has worked with attorneys, realtors, insurers, appraisers, and accountants to sell a house, value a stake in a privately held company, transfer assets, and, of course, prepare tax returns. Even though her mom had simplified matters by transferring assets to a trust, McLaughlin, a financial planner in Apollo Beach, Fla., devotes more than 15 hours a week to her job as executor. “Even with my training, I’ve found it a challenge,” she says.

McLaughlin is dealing with a well-organized estate and cooperative family members. If an estate is a mess and the heirs are at war with each other, acting as executor can be the job from hell. Just ask Joseph Butler, an FAA safety inspector from Somers, Conn., and co-executor of his grandmother’s estate. Four years ago he discovered that his grandmother’s will and several valuable antiques were missing from the Worcester (Mass.) home she had bequeathed to the entire family. Since then, the estate has been tied up in legal battles, including one in which Butler hired a handwriting expert to debunk a will a cousin produced that named the cousin’s mother sole heir. “It’s been a real headache,” says Butler. The home will soon be sold, he says, and the proceeds divided according to state law, which governs estates without wills. Twenty-seven grandchildren will share the money, Butler adds, with the cousin’s share docked for various expenses.

If asked to be an executor, you may feel flattered, or loath to turn down a loved one. But think carefully before accepting. Executors are entitled by law to be paid, but the work is generally tedious and time-consuming, even if you farm some of it out to professionals. Moreover, if you make mistakes, you may damage relationships with other heirs or even be held personally liable.

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