Their role is to administer your estate – following your wishes to make sure your beneficiaries receive what you have gifted them.  
  
They’re basically the ‘Oprah’ of your estate.  
  
You get an asset!  
You get an asset!  
You get an asset!  

This person is going to gather information on assets, liabilities and work with super funds, banks and other institutions to arrange for debt to be paid out or refinanced, and assets transferred to your beneficiaries.

Then their job is done. This can take months or years depending on the complexity of your estate.

Choosing your Executors

1. What they are like (remember they don’t have to tick all of these boxes. This is just a guide)
2. Close to you and know you well
3. Organised – think of the people in your life who are the planner of the things. The role of an executor is a big one and organisation is key.
4. Trustworthy. They are going to be dealing with your money so you need to trust them to do the right thing
5. Financially savvy or literate

Tip: If you’re appointing 2 or more people as your executors, make sure they get along! It makes things much more harmonious if you’re executors are, at the very least, on speaking terms.

• What they are not like
• Unorganised
• Don’t know you well (unless you are appointing a professional like a lawyer or accountant)
• Dishonest
• Unstable (mentally or emotionally. This might sound a little harsh but remember if this person is carrying out executor duties it means they have lost someone very dear to them. For some people, it is too much to bear the grief as well as the admin)

• How many?

We generally recommend 1 or 2 at a time.

2 is a good to share the load. 1 makes things a little more simple.

Legally, you aren’t allowed to appoint more than 4 executors but we don’t like to see any more than 3 (and even then, only if you reallllly need all 3).

Important: Always have a back up!

If something happens to your first executor, we need to have a back up person or people ready to step in.

If we don’t do this, someone will have to apply to the court for the authority to act as your executor. This equals time, money and stress.

For Couples:

Generally, couples appoint each other as their executors.

If something happens to both of you, we generally like to see 2 people – 1 representing each couple – appointed as executors for both of you together.

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