Arguably, executors and beneficiaries have one pivotal factor in common: these appointments are given to people who you might trust the most with your personal affairs. This is why it might be more common than you initially realize for grantors of Last Will and Testaments to name the same person as the executor and beneficiary of their estate’s assets. Well, with that being said, please read on to discover why you might have your beneficiary also serve as your executor and how a seasoned Broward County wills lawyer at The Probate Lawyers can help you make careful considerations before doing so.
Why would I want my executor to be my beneficiary too?
There are valid reasons why it is so common for an executor to double as a beneficiary of a grantor’s estate. Again, we must go back to the fact that your executor/beneficiary is likely the person you trust the most in your life. So, you may confide a lot of confidential information with them throughout your lifetime. This is to say that they may be well-equipped to, first, tackle the the management of your estate’s assets. That is, they may know exactly where your estate planning documents are located, along with understanding the exact assets you refer to in these documents and how to access them. Ultimately, this may make the next step, the estate administration process, much more efficient out of respect for your other beneficiaries’ precious time and energy.
Then, being that they were so close to you during your lifetime, they were likely close to your other beneficiaries. Again, this may save time in having to forge relationships with your other beneficiaries and learn the best ways to communicate important pieces of information with them. In the end, they may undoubtedly have their best interests at heart and do everything in their power to distribute the inheritances to which they were promised and so deserving of.
What are the drawbacks of having the same person serve both roles?
It can be argued that if your executor is also your beneficiary, they may be more inclined to protect your estate’s assets since they are set to inherit a portion of them. But there are some rare situations in which executors do not maintain this mindset. Rather, unfortunately, your executor may put their personal interests before that of yourself and your other beneficiaries. This means that they may not exactly refuse to collect the executor’s service fee, which takes away from the inheritances of your other beneficiaries but has them collecting more. This may leave your other beneficiaries somewhat disgruntled, potentially leading to a dispute and subsequent litigated proceedings over your estate.
In another scenario, your executor may hold a certain threshold of sentimental value toward your estate’s assets. But if you sadly pass away with a lot of outstanding debt, your executor is supposed to sell these assets and use these liquidated funds to pay them off. So, their emotions may cloud their better judgment and they may hold onto assets that they should not. Or, going back to their personal interests, they may be unwilling to receive less of an inheritance for the sake of paying off these debts. This may have them sacrificing the portions your other beneficiaries should have received.
If you are ready to make your executor and beneficiary assignments, please first retain the services of one of the skilled Butler County estate planning & probate attorneys. Our team at Heritage Elder Law & Estate Planning, LLC is ready and able to take on your case.
