Wealth management
How to choose the right executor for your estate
Your executor carries the weight of your legacy—learn what their responsibilities include and why it’s important to consider both personal and corporate options.
Summary
- Executors implement your will after you’re gone, organizing assets, filing with courts, managing creditor claims, and distributing property—a process that averages about nine months.
- When selecting an executor, consider their availability and objectivity—family members often lack specialized expertise and may struggle with the complex legal requirements or emotional decisions involved.
- Corporate executors like TIAA Trust offer key advantages over personal representatives through objectivity and institutional longevity.
Protecting your estate
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. But in estate planning, a will may only be as effective as the executor assigned to implement it. Many people focus most of their estate planning energy on creating a will or trust to ensure their wishes are clearly outlined after passing. While this is certainly an important step, selecting an executor is one of the most consequential decisions you’ll make because they’ll be responsible for carrying out those wishes.
While many people default to naming a family member or close friend, exploring all your options—including the potential advantages of corporate executors—can give you greater confidence and help reduce the burden and stress on your beneficiaries.
What is an executor
An executor is a person or institution nominated in a will and appointed by a court tasked with the responsibility of carrying out your wishes after you’re gone. This role involves marshalling all your financial and nonfinancial assets, filing final tax returns, managing creditor claims, and distributing property to beneficiaries. If this role sounds like a lot of responsibility, that’s because it is. The process typically can take up to a year or more to complete and requires some specialized knowledge of state and federal tax laws.
While every state has its own requirements, executors generally must be of legal age (18 or 21), a U.S. resident, and not legally incapacitated. If no executor is named in a will and no interested parties are available, such as a spouse, adult child, or beneficiary, the court will appoint a personal representative to manage the estate. Whether you choose a family member, friend, or corporate executor like
Key considerations when choosing an executor
“When it comes to dealing with incapacity planning or inheritances, having the right executor ultimately makes things much easier in the future,” explains Doug Talir, a product manager and strategist within TIAA’s Trustee Services. Knowing what qualities to consider—and who might be the best fit—can make all the difference when deciding on an executor for your estate.
Availability is one of the largest factors to consider. Before naming someone, it’s important to ask if they have adequate time to manage months of
“Yes, you may have a son who’s an engineer or a daughter who’s a doctor, so they’re very knowledgeable. But question number one is do they have the time?” says Talir. “It takes on average about nine months to settle an estate, and trust administration is very involved and complex.”
Because your executor will be handling extensive paperwork and the financial details of your estate, it’s also recommended to select someone who’s financially competent and well organized. Just as important is their ability to remain calm and levelheaded, particularly when navigating uncomfortable family dynamics.
Not only are these qualities important for a successful estate settlement process, they’re also critical to ensure the executor can protect themselves from personal legal risk. This is why many individuals find themselves carefully weighing their options when deciding who will represent their estate.
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The benefits of a corporate executor
When selecting an executor, you generally have two choices: a personal representative (like a family member or friend) or a corporate executor such as
“When I pose the question to clients who have completed an estate settlement for one of their family members like their parent or aunt I ask, ‘Would you want to do that again or put this burden on your children?’” Talir explains. “They always think about it and then respond with, ‘Oh no, that was awful, I never would do that again.’”
So that leaves the corporate executor route. While there are typically fees involved, Talir offers three distinct advantages of corporate executors that can easily justify the cost.
1. Objectivity
One of the most important qualities an executor can bring to their role is objectivity. They must remain unbiased, carefully following the instructions laid out in the will. Corporate executors offer a valuable advantage especially on this point: They can approach decisions without being influenced by family dynamics or household politics—making it easier to navigate uncomfortable discussions, like who inherits the family lake house.
2. Longevity
Life is unpredictable—people move and health situations can change quickly. These uncertainties affect not just the person creating the will, but also the executor named to carry out those wishes. “With a corporate trustee, we’re there for the long haul,” says Talir. “If the
3. Expertise
Estate settlement involves much more than managing retirement accounts and financial assets. Executors often find themselves handling everything from family heirlooms to real estate to that old box of jewelry buried in grandma’s closet. Corporate executors bring specialized knowledge in managing these unique and sometimes unexpected items.
“We had one client who was a composer, and he had original compositions of music that were very valuable. We wanted to make sure those compositions were distributed back to his university so they could be held in the music department,” says Talir. “It all goes back to the client knowing that they truly have a professional involved in handling the will, the trust, and the best wishes of their family.”
Get personalized estate planning advice
TIAA Trust offers corporate executor services that provide the expertise, objectivity, and longevity needed for effective estate settlement. Reach out to your wealth management advisor for help determining your estate planning needs and which executor would be right for you. Don’t have an advisor yet?
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TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC has established a referral arrangement with Huge Legal Technology Company, Inc., a Delaware corporation doing business as Trust & Will (“Trust & Will”), to provide our clients with estate planning services. This third-party estate planning service is offered to you as an educational benefit. Please review the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy associated with Trust & Will to learn how the data you provide them is used and protected. Your engagement with Trust & Will is subject to its specific terms, conditions, and privacy policies. The information provided by Trust & Will should not be relied upon by you as tax or legal advice. You should always consult with your own attorney and/or tax advisor before making changes to your individual investment, financial, and/or estate plan. The TIAA group of companies does not provide legal or tax advice. You understand that the TIAA group of companies does not review the content or legal sufficiency of any will, trust document, or other related documents (whether prepared by Trust & Will or otherwise) and will not request that you provide such documents to TIAA; should you choose to share or otherwise make such documents available to TIAA, you understand that TIAA will not review them and will not interpret the provisions of such documents when providing services to you. Tax and other laws are subject to change, either prospectively or retroactively. Individuals should consult with a qualified independent tax advisor and/or attorney for specific advice based on the individual’s personal circumstances.
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This material is for informational or educational purposes only and is not fiduciary investment advice, or a securities, investment strategy, or insurance product recommendation. This material does not consider an individual’s own objectives or circumstances, which should be the basis of any investment decision.
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