Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

Re: executrix duties

The executor or administrator is the individual appointed to administer a decedent's estate. An executor or administrator is under a fiduciary duty to the estate. Which means that he or she is subject to the highest standard of care.

A fiduciary is expected to be extremely loyal to the estate and its beneficiaries. He or she must not put his or her personal interests before the duty. While an executor must insure that the decedent's desires expressed in the will are carried out, the administrator must insure that the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy. Essentially, an executor or administrator must protect the decedent's property until all debts and taxes have been paid, and ensure that what's left is transferred to the people who are entitled to it.

A simplified summary of executor's duties follows. Inventory and safeguard the decedent's assets. Obtain appraisals if necessary. It is the executor's job to open an estate account into which he or she will deposit the assets collected and liquidated. Determine whether there are any claims against the estate. Pay valid debts and expenses. Keep meticulous financial records of his or her acts as fiduciary. File the decedent's final income tax return and fiduciary income tax returns, if needed. File and pay Federal and State Estate Tax Returns, if needed. Distribute the balance of funds to the beneficiaries of the Will or to the intestate distributees.