Executor of an Estate: What the Job Actually Involves

What an executor actually does

An executor — called an estate trustee in Ontario — gathers the assets, pays the debts and taxes, and distributes what remains. It is a fiduciary role, which means you are holding other people's property and answerable for how you handle it.

The work is mostly administrative and mostly correspondence. What makes it consequential is that the liability is personal.

1. Locate the will and confirm it is the latest one.
2. Apply for a grant of probate where the institutions require it.
3. Inventory and secure the assets; notify banks, insurers, CRA and Service Canada.
4. Publish a notice to creditors.
5. Pay funeral expenses, debts and taxes in the correct order.
6. File the final return and any estate returns.
7. Obtain a CRA clearance certificate.
8. Distribute, take signed releases, and account to the beneficiaries.

The three failures that create personal liability

Executor liability is not theoretical, and it concentrates in a small number of predictable errors.

• Distributing before debts and taxes are settled. If the estate later proves short, the shortfall is yours. A clearance certificate and a notice to creditors are the two protections.
• Failing to search properly for a will. If you administer an estate as an intestacy and a will surfaces afterwards, you are exposed. Document the search as you go.
• Mixing estate funds with your own. Open a dedicated estate account on day one and route every receipt and payment through it.

How long you have

The customary 'executor's year' is the period before beneficiaries can press for distribution. It is an expectation rather than a statutory deadline, and in practice tax clearance often makes a year realistic rather than lazy.

Beyond that, unexplained delay may support a beneficiary application to compel a passing of accounts.

Getting paid

Executor compensation is permitted, commonly calculated as a percentage of receipts and disbursements plus a care-and-management fee, subject to court review for reasonableness. A will can fix the amount instead, which avoids a later argument.

Scholars generally permit a wasi reasonable compensation for genuine work, particularly where the role is onerous. Agreeing the figure in advance is what prevents it becoming a dispute among heirs.

The role in Islamic terms

The classical counterpart is the wasi — the person who settles the deceased's affairs and carries out the wasiyyah. The role is described as an amanah, a trust, and the holder is answerable for it.

Where the two systems diverge is pace. Islamic practice favours prompt settlement of debts and distribution; Canadian administration routinely takes a year because of tax clearance. An interim distribution with an adequate holdback is the standard way to reconcile them.

The Canadian legal detail

Treadstone Law is an Ontario firm with a wills and estates practice. These go further into the Canadian side of what is covered above:

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Common questions

Can I refuse to be an executor?

Yes, by renouncing — but only before you have started acting. Once you have intermeddled in the estate, renouncing becomes much harder.

Can an executor also be a beneficiary?

Yes, and it is very common. What they must not do is witness the will — a gift to a witness or their spouse can be void.

Can a woman be an executor under Islamic law?

Yes. The requirements for a wasi are trustworthiness and sound judgement; the classical texts do not confine the role to men.

What if the executor will not act?

Beneficiaries can compel an accounting, and ultimately apply to have the executor removed and replaced. Courts are reluctant to override a testator's choice without real evidence of failure.