Also known as: executors · executrix · executrixes · executresses · executress · personal representative · will administrator
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person named in a will to carry out its provisions and administer the decedent's estate. The executor has no authority to act until appointed by the probate court upon probate of the will. Compensation for the executor is treated as an expense of administration.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Emma Erickson died leaving her home subject to a mortgage to her daughter Ella Emerson under her will. Edward Everett, named executor, paid the mortgage balance from estate cash before distributing the house. Ella received the property free of the lien because the will directed exoneration.
Brandon, executor of a solo practitioner's estate, orally assured Ethan that he would personally cover unpaid office rent if Ethan finished pending matters. Ethan completed the work but Brandon refused to pay from personal funds. The promise fell within the executor-administrator provision and required a writing.
After the death of an Indian landowner, the executor appointed under federal statutes pursued claims that the decedent's right to devise trust land had been taken. The court recognized the executor's standing to assert the surviving claims of the decedent.
The executor of a partner's estate refused to renew a firm lease for personal benefit. The court held that the executor owed the same duty of loyalty as the deceased partner and could not secretly obtain the renewal.
A state statute gave preference to male relatives to serve as executor. The court struck down the gender-based preference because it violated equal protection even though the decedent could have named an executor in a will.
A city ordinance restricted animal sacrifice but permitted a judge to serve as executor for a family member's estate involving religious practices. The court examined whether the ordinance targeted religious conduct while allowing fiduciary roles such as executor.
An executor is the personal representative named in a will. An administrator is appointed by the court when the decedent dies intestate or when the will fails to name a personal representative.
Supporting sources
Yes. Under the executor-administrator provision of the Statute of Frauds, a contract by an executor to answer for a duty of the decedent is unenforceable unless evidenced by a signed writing.
An executor has no power to act until appointed by the probate court, which occurs when the will is probated.
Supporting sources
…polity" and particularly "in a country composed of such a variety of religious sects as our country." Vidal v. Girard's Executors , 2 How. 127, 198. That was more than one hundred years ago. Separation in the field of education, then, was not imposed upon unwilling States by force of superior law. In this respect the…