Legal Sherpa Briefing For Estate Trustees
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For people wondering if they should be estate trustees
If you have been named or nominated as Estate Trustee (old language was Executor or Executrix) to deal with a deceased's estate, you need not accept the nomination. You can turn it down!
It is an honour to be named an Estate Trustee. The testator or testatrix (Latin for person who wrote the will) obviously trusted you and had confidence in your abilities, judgment, and honesty. But, your first decision is whether or not to accept the nomination. Have circumstances in your life changed since you were nominated?
Being an Estate Trustee involves a great deal of work and attention to detail, particularly financial detail. It can involve making difficult and perhaps unpopular decisions. It demands a high decree of accountability (which can be enforced by the courts). And once a person takes on the role it is not easy to be removed from that role.
An Estate Trustee is usually entitled to be paid for their hard work and is always entitled to be reimbursed for their proper expenses.
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Legal Sherpa Tip
An Estate Trustee has the right to ask for advice of a trusted advisor before making a difficult decision and the cost of getting that advice is an expense of the estate not an expense of the Estate Trustee personally.
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