Most people spend more time deciding who inherits than deciding who administers. That is understandable — inheritance is the emotional heart of estate planning — but the choice of executor may have more day-to-day impact on how your estate is actually settled than any distribution provision in your will.
The person you name will be responsible for gathering your assets, paying your debts, filing your final tax returns, communicating with your family through what is often the most difficult year of their lives, and ultimately distributing what remains. A good executor makes that year manageable. A poorly chosen executor can turn a straightforward estate into two years of family conflict.
This is a Vermont attorney’s guide to choosing the right executor.
What the Executor Actually Does
Under Vermont law, the executor (formally the “personal representative”) of a will is responsible for the administration of the estate through the probate court. That administration includes:
- Filing the petition to open probate and admit the will
- Providing statutory notice to beneficiaries, heirs, and creditors
- Taking custody of the decedent’s assets and preserving them during administration
- Preparing and filing the estate inventory
- Managing any real estate, business interests, or investments during administration
- Handling and paying valid creditor claims from estate assets
- Filing the decedent’s final personal income tax returns
- Filing estate income tax returns if the estate generates income
- Preparing the final accounting for the court and beneficiaries
- Distributing remaining assets to beneficiaries under the will
- Filing the petition to close the estate
Vermont estates typically take nine to eighteen months to administer. During that time, the executor is the point of contact for the probate court, the creditors, the tax authorities, and the beneficiaries. It is not a small responsibility.
Legal Requirements for a Vermont Executor
Vermont law imposes only modest requirements. An executor must be:
- Eighteen years of age or older
- Legally competent to serve
Vermont does not require the executor to be a Vermont resident, though non-resident executors face some additional administrative burdens and may be required to post a bond.
That is the floor. The ceiling — the qualities of a really good executor — is where most planning attention should go.
The Qualities That Actually Matter
Organization
Vermont probate involves paperwork, deadlines, and coordination. An executor who is chronically disorganized in their personal life will find estate administration overwhelming. An executor who keeps a tidy filing system, follows through on commitments, and can manage multiple concurrent obligations will move the estate through administration efficiently.
Emotional stability
The executor is often dealing simultaneously with their own grief and the emotional needs of other family members. An executor who can hold their own composure — and who can handle difficult conversations with beneficiaries who are grieving, anxious, or occasionally hostile — makes the whole process easier for everyone. An executor who cannot regulate their own emotions or who becomes reactive under pressure often becomes a source of conflict rather than a source of resolution.
Trustworthiness
The executor holds fiduciary responsibility for the estate’s assets and must exercise those responsibilities with complete honesty. Executors who misappropriate estate assets, favor themselves in distributions, or fail to keep accurate records create legal and family problems that can persist for years. Choose someone whose honesty is beyond question.
Willingness
The executor must be willing to serve. Naming a person who does not want the responsibility, or who does not know they have been named, is a common source of problems. Speak with the person before you name them. Confirm they understand what serving involves and are willing to do it.
Age and health
The executor should reasonably be expected to be alive and capable when the will takes effect. Naming a spouse who is your same age often makes sense for the primary role but always call for naming a successor who is younger. Naming an elderly parent as executor of your will, when statistical likelihood is that they will predecease you, creates problems the successor provision may not cleanly solve.
Geographic proximity
An executor who lives in Vermont has considerable practical advantages: familiarity with local institutions, ability to visit the probate court, ease of visiting the decedent’s home and effects. A non-resident executor can serve, but administration is easier when the executor is local.
Common Choices, and Their Tradeoffs
Spouse as primary executor, adult child as successor
The most common structure for married Vermonters. The surviving spouse understands the decedent’s affairs and shares the beneficiaries’ interests. An adult child as successor takes over if the spouse predeceases or is unable to serve.
Watch for: aging or health issues that may make the spouse unable to serve when the time comes. Consider whether the surviving spouse would actually be capable of handling the administration during their own grief.
Adult child as executor
The most common choice for widowed or single Vermonters. Adult children generally know the family situation, care about the outcome, and are motivated to see the administration completed well.
Watch for: family dynamics. If you have multiple adult children and choose one to serve, consider how that decision will land with the others. Sibling conflict over the choice of executor is one of the most common sources of estate disputes. Consider whether co-executors (two children serving together) might reduce that tension, though co-executor arrangements can also produce their own conflicts if the co-executors disagree.
Multiple children as co-executors
Some families choose two or three children to serve together as co-executors. When the children work well together and share the decision-making, co-executor arrangements can be excellent.
Watch for: disagreements between the co-executors that stall administration, and the practical burden of getting multiple people to sign every filing. Co-executor arrangements work best when the co-executors have a clear division of responsibilities or a well-established pattern of cooperation.
Sibling as executor
Sometimes appropriate when the adult children are minors or young adults, or when there are no children. A sibling can serve well if they understand the decedent’s affairs and are prepared to work with the beneficiaries.
Watch for: whether the sibling has time and capacity given their own life circumstances. Whether the sibling has a good relationship with the beneficiaries (particularly if the beneficiaries are the decedent’s children whom the sibling is essentially serving on behalf of).
Trusted friend or professional
For clients without close family, a longtime friend or a professional (attorney or accountant) can serve. Professional executors typically charge fees for their services (either fixed or percentage-based) that come from the estate.
Watch for: clarifying compensation in advance. Confirming the professional’s willingness to serve. For non-professional trusted friends, considering whether they have the skills and time.
Corporate executor (trust company or bank)
For very large or complex estates, corporate executors offer institutional expertise, continuity, and impartiality. They charge substantial fees, so this option is generally reserved for estates where the fees are justified by the size or complexity involved.
Naming a Successor Executor (Always)
Every Vermont will should name at least one successor executor, and ideally two. Life is uncertain, and even the best-chosen executor may predecease you, become incapacitated, or decline to serve when the time comes. Successor provisions ensure your estate has continuity even if your first choice is unavailable.
Compensation for the Executor
Vermont law allows executors to receive reasonable compensation for their services. Compensation is set based on the complexity of the estate and the executor’s actual work. Many family executors decline compensation, particularly where they are also significant beneficiaries.
Whether to accept executor compensation is a personal and often family-sensitive decision. Discussing your expectations with the person you are naming, before the will is signed, prevents surprises later.
Consider Whether a Trust Changes the Analysis
If your estate plan is trust-based rather than will-based, the corresponding role is “successor trustee” rather than “executor.” Trustee administration is generally simpler than probate administration (no court supervision) and can be handled by a family member without the formalities that probate imposes.
The considerations for choosing a trustee overlap heavily with the considerations for choosing an executor, but trustee arrangements offer some additional flexibility. Trustees can be given ongoing responsibilities (for example, managing a trust for a beneficiary with special needs) that executors typically do not have. Trust structures can also more easily accommodate professional or corporate co-trustees.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Naming
- Does the person I have in mind know they are being considered, and are they willing to serve?
- Do I trust this person’s judgment, honesty, and organizational ability?
- Can this person handle emotional stress and family conflict without becoming destabilized?
- Is this person likely to be alive and able-bodied when my will takes effect?
- Have I named a successor in case the first choice is unavailable?
- Have I discussed the choice with the person I have named, and (where appropriate) with other family members?
The answers to these questions will shape a choice that serves your family for the year of administration and beyond.
What Basha Law Provides
When we draft a Vermont will or trust, we walk through the executor choice with every client — the tradeoffs, the successor provisions, the compensation question, and the practical considerations. We also help clients think through the family dynamics that may shape the choice. And when the time for administration comes, we support executors through the process on written engagements confirmed before administration begins.
Schedule a consultation with Attorney Basha, or call (802) 448-4341.