After a loved one or trusted friend dies, you find out that you’ve been named executor of their estate. Well, now what do you do? You know that executor is a legal term that exudes importance. When you see, say, or hear it, you know that it carries great meaning. In practice, executors are quite important, but the role is far less mystical than it may sound. In simple terms, an executor is the person who carries out a deceased person’s wishes by following the directions in their last will and testament. But how does one become an executor, and what duties must an executor follow? This blog series will address the steps to becoming an executor, the duties executors must follow, and how to challenge an untrustworthy executor and stop them from assuming that role.
This series will discuss the following topics:
- Overview—Following Your Duties as an Executor in Texas
- Texas Courts Must Approve All Executors Before They Can Act
- Preventing an Executor from Being Appointed in Dallas, Texas
- Requirements that Texas Executors Must Follow After Being Appointed
- Texas Executors Assume Several Fiduciary Duties
- Series Recap— Following Your Duties as an Executor in Texas
In this series, we will draw the roadmap to becoming an executor in Texas. We will then highlight the ways to prevent unsuitable executors from assuming their position. The next section will examine the various tasks an executor must accomplish and the timeline for those tasks under the Texas Estates Code. We will then discuss some of the unwritten rules that all Executors must follow during the administration of an estate. Finally, we will underscore the critical points to remember if you are named as an executor or seek to prevent someone from becoming one.
Please note that most of the content in this blog also applies to the role of administrator, which is the job of managing the estate of a deceased person who died without a will. If you have questions about whether a procedure or duty applies to administrators, speak with a Dallas, Texas probate lawyer.
In the next post, we confront the biggest misconception made by Texans concerning executors—the mistaken belief that they automatically become executor upon their loved one’s passing. So how, exactly, does one become an executor? We’ll reveal that and more in our next post.
Our Dallas probate attorneys assist and advise clients with becoming an executor, preventing someone from becoming an executor, and following Texas law during the administration of a deceased person’s estate. Our offices also service Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Denton, Fort Worth, Garland, Irving, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Nacogdoches, Lufkin, and Center. Please contact us today if you have any questions about becoming an executor and the duties that you must follow.