There have been several threads on wills lately and I didn’t want to hijack them.
My wife and I are putting together our will. Shouldn’t be terribly complicated. She has no children. I have 2 adult children, one with special needs. Everything will go to them. My one daughter is a little bit flighty. I don’t want to burden her more than I have to. My other daughter will get a trust.
So it looks like I will be naming an executor that isn’t a beneficiary. We have several trustworthy relatives but they are all older than us.
If anyone has been in the same boat how did you proceed? Did you leave a provision to compensate the executor that would otherwise not be a beneficiary? I’m just looking for anecdotes while I’m thinking about my decision.
My brother-in-law (sister’s husband, two years younger than me) is our executor, picked only because he’s a lawyer. Our wills are very simple. BIL is not a beneficiary, and my sister is one only if my husband and daughter die before I do. We didn’t offer any compensation.
Neither I nor my husband has any relatives that a) live anywhere near us, b) is capable of doing this stuff, or c) that we want to burden with this stuff. Same for friends, except for a). So we picked a professional fiduciary. They charge by the hour, so I don’t know how that’s going to work out as a percentage of the estate/trust. All our assets except my IRA are in a living trust. If I die first this person will be co-trustee with my husband, so that she can help him do financial stuff, find someone to help take care of the house (if he stays in it) or sell the house (if he doesn’t); and she will be executor of my will, which won’t require much effort. If my husband dies first, I will be the only trustee during my lifetime, and I will be the executor of my husband’s will. After that, when I die, the fiduciary’s duty will be to sell up and divide the proceeds per the trust document and my will.
This is, I suppose, one of the downsides of not having children, at least one of whom might be willing and able to take on these chores. I did it for my father, and I can tell you it was a pain in the ass. Especially since he had a house that he was selling on private contract to a couple who both went on disability not long after they entered the contract. It took me ten years to get out from under that (they were finally able to re-finance with a bank).
I would never ask a non-beneficiary to serve as executor without providing for reasonable compensation. It can be a lot of work and stress serving in that role, with a lot of missed work time to meet with lawyers, brokers, etc. While I am alive, I might ask a friend or relative to help with a task for an afternoon in exchange for some beers. But if I was going to require many hours of help, spread out over several months, I would feel compelled to pay them. Same thing for a executor.
One thing I’ll add is that the executor should not be a creditor of the deceased. I’d rather not go into details, but doing so creates a situation where the best interests of the heirs are not the same as the best interests of the estate.
I picked a work colleague and friend who is about ten years younger, and female, so likely to outlive us. As a practical matter, though, she’s the secondary executor: I and Mr. Mallard are each other’s main beneficiary and executors, so if one of us dies before the other, the survivor will need a new will.
Mr. Mallard is from the UK, and our beneficiaries are there, so we chose someone who had lived there and would be prepared to and willing to deal with that aspect of things, and included compensation, though I don’t think I spelled that out to my friend. (I asked if she wanted copies, but she did not: she knows where to find them in the event of need.)
I’m a widower, no children, and none of my relatives live nearby, I have a local friend (who happens to be the reason I moved from Chicago ro NC) who is both my sole beneficiary and executor of my estate. She’s also the beneficiary of my IRAs. We’ve occasionally joked that I should probably watch my step whenever she visits me.
Two of our best friends are lawyers who happen to work adjacent to (but not directly for) the foundation that we’re leaving a big chunk to. So they were basically born to do it. We listed them both and figure we’ll let them fight it out.
Long time friend of my Wifes, and now mine. 40 years or so.
She is younger than us.
We have it in our will that she will get… $1000 I think. Probably not enough. Our will is pretty simple though. But it is a pain in the ass. It’s stated in our will that any lawyer fees are to come out of our estate.
I think that’s the set up.
We take care of her animals if she goes first, and she ours. I would get my cousin/best friends dog and cat.
We were going to have my nephew do it, and he had agreed, but now that we’ve moved and he’s uncertain where he’s going to end up, it’s on hold. He’s also got medical issues. BUT, were were absolutely going to leave a chunk for him, if for nothing else than to cover travel, hotel, rental car, etc. He was my mother’s executor, and even though she had a will, it was a time-sucker for him to get it all taken care of.
My wife’s uncle is a highly respected semi-retired lawyer. I won’t give specifics because he not famous but certainly googleable. We are using his firm to draw up the will. He would be perfect except he’s 10 years older than me and 20 years older than my wife.
My Dad was named executor by one of my aunts (she rightly trusted him - and had little of value anyway.)
However after my aunt died, my father was pestered for many minor things and found the whole experience distasteful.
My will was arranged by my lawyer and his firm are the executors.
They charge a set fee (and I’ve given them some notes to help dispose of stuff like my book collection.)
I’d rather have a professional sort out my affairs than burden a relative.
In Pennsylvania the executor gets a percentage of the estate (not counting life insurance). Up to $100,000.00 it is 5%. Over $4 million gets 1/2%.
For the work my gf has done she will receive her percentage in addition to what she has been given in the will. The lawyer she hired is getting the same percentage for his work.
That’s cool. I might be wrong about my numbers. My wife arranged all of this.
You’re in PA kayaker? My wife is from Pittsburgh. I had the misconception that it was an ugly city. It’s not. Roads are a little strange because of the three rivers though. I’m perpetually lost there.