A will executor checklist runs from the day of death through the court’s final discharge order, and the steps have to happen in a specific order because skipping ahead can leave you personally paying debts out of your own pocket. The work typically takes six months to well over a year. Most estates will not owe federal estate tax (the exemption for 2026 is $15,000,000 per individual), but every estate still faces income tax filings, creditor claims, and court oversight that you answer for personally.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax
Decide Whether to Accept the Role
Being named executor does not obligate you to serve. Before the court authorizes you, you can decline by filing a written renunciation with the probate court. Once you accept and begin acting on behalf of the estate, stepping down becomes harder and usually requires the court’s permission.
If you decline, the court looks to any successor executor named in the will. If no successor is named or that person also declines, the court appoints someone else, often a beneficiary, a professional fiduciary, or a public administrator. Declining early causes far less disruption than accepting and later realizing the job is more than you bargained for.
Get Death Certificates and Find the Original Will
Order certified copies of the death certificate from the local vital records office or county health department. Fees generally run $5 to $25 per copy. Order at least ten up front. Banks, insurance companies, retirement plan administrators, and government agencies each require their own certified copy, and ordering extras now is cheaper than requesting them individually later.
Then locate the original signed will. Courts will not accept a photocopy, because the original is the only version they can authenticate. Check the home safe, filing cabinets, safe deposit box, and the office of any attorney who may have drafted it. If you find multiple versions, use the most recent one, identified by the date on the signature page. Any codicils (amendments) should go with it.
While gathering documents, build a list of every heir and beneficiary named in the will, with full legal names and current addresses. The probate petition requires this so the court can notify everyone with a legal interest in the estate.
Check Whether the Estate Qualifies as a Small Estate
Before you file a full probate petition, check whether your state’s small estate procedure applies. Every state offers one, either a short affidavit or a streamlined court filing, that lets heirs collect assets without full probate. Thresholds vary widely, from roughly $10,000 to over $150,000, and most states exclude non-probate assets like life insurance and retirement accounts from that calculation.
These shortcuts typically require a waiting period of 30 to 60 days after death and generally cannot be used once a formal probate case has been opened. Some states also exclude real property from the affidavit process. If the probate assets fall under the limit, this route can save months and thousands of dollars.
File for Probate and Get Letters Testamentary
If full probate is needed, file the original will and a probate petition with the court clerk in the county where the deceased person lived. Filing fees vary by jurisdiction and sometimes scale with the estate’s value. Many courts accept electronic filings.
After reviewing the petition, the court issues Letters Testamentary, the document that gives you legal authority to act for the estate. Banks, title companies, and government agencies will not deal with you without this paperwork. If there is no will, the court instead issues Letters of Administration and appoints an administrator. Until you receive your letters, you cannot legally move money, sell property, or access most of the deceased person’s accounts.
The wait between filing and receiving letters typically runs four to twelve weeks, depending on the court’s backlog and whether anyone contests the will. The court may also require you to post a surety bond, usually set at the estate’s value, with a premium of roughly 0.5% to 1%. Many wills waive this requirement; if the will is silent, beneficiaries can sometimes jointly ask the court to waive it.
Inventory and Value the Assets
Build a complete picture of what the deceased person owned. Gather the most recent bank and brokerage statements, real estate deeds, vehicle titles, business ownership documents, and life insurance policies. Don’t overlook digital assets like cryptocurrency wallets, online payment accounts, and domain names.
What Doesn’t Go Through Probate
Several common asset types transfer automatically to a named beneficiary or surviving co-owner regardless of what the will says:
- Life insurance proceeds go directly to the named beneficiary.
- 401(k)s, IRAs, and similar retirement accounts pass to the designated beneficiary.
- Joint accounts with survivorship rights transfer to the surviving owner.
- Payable-on-death bank accounts and transfer-on-death investment accounts pass outside probate.
- Assets already held in a living trust bypass probate entirely.
You still need to know about these assets for tax purposes, but you do not control their distribution. Your probate inventory covers only assets without a built-in transfer mechanism.
Establishing Value
Each probate asset is valued at fair market value as of the date of death. Bank accounts and publicly traded securities are straightforward. Real estate, closely held businesses, jewelry, art, and collectibles usually require a professional appraisal. The court requires a formal inventory, which also sets the baseline for any estate tax calculation.
For estates large enough to owe federal estate tax, you can elect an alternate valuation date six months after death instead of date-of-death value. The election is available only if it reduces both the gross estate value and the total tax owed, and it is irrevocable once made on the estate tax return.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2032 – Alternate Valuation
Notify Creditors and Pay Debts in the Right Order
You have a legal obligation to notify creditors. This usually means publishing a notice in a local newspaper (often once a week for two or more consecutive weeks, depending on state law) and mailing direct written notice to every creditor you know about, including credit card companies, mortgage lenders, and medical providers.
After publication, creditors have a limited window to file claims, typically two to six months depending on the state. Claims filed late are generally barred. Review each claim carefully. You can accept valid ones or formally reject questionable ones, which forces the creditor to take the dispute to court.
Payment Priority
Order matters. Federal law gives the U.S. government first priority when an estate cannot cover all debts. If you pay other creditors or distribute to beneficiaries before satisfying federal obligations like taxes, you become personally liable for the unpaid federal claims up to the amount you distributed.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3713 – Priority of Government Claims
State law then sets priority for the rest, but the general pattern is similar everywhere: funeral expenses and administration costs first, then secured debts like mortgages, then unsecured priority claims, then general unsecured creditors. Beneficiaries receive what is left only after all valid debts are paid.
One claim to investigate early: if the deceased person received Medicaid after age 55, particularly for nursing home or home-based care, the state Medicaid agency is required by federal law to seek reimbursement from the estate. States cannot pursue recovery if a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age survives, and hardship waivers must be offered. These claims can reach tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.4Medicaid.gov. Estate Recovery
Handle the Tax Filings
Tax work breaks into manageable pieces once you know which returns apply and when.
Employer Identification Number
Before opening an estate bank account or filing any estate tax returns, apply for a federal Employer Identification Number through the IRS website. It is free and issued immediately.5Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number The EIN functions like a Social Security number for the estate; all estate income, expenses, and tax payments flow through it.
Final Form 1040 for the Deceased Person
File a final individual income tax return covering January 1 of the year of death through the date of death. The due date is the same as it would have been had the person survived: April 15 of the year after death for calendar-year taxpayers. Extensions are available on the same terms as any individual return.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators Income earned after the date of death belongs to the estate and goes on the estate’s return instead.
Form 1041, Estate Income Tax
If the estate earns more than $600 of gross income in any tax year, file Form 1041. This covers interest, dividends, rental income, and gains from selling estate assets during administration. The return is due the 15th day of the fourth month after the close of the estate’s tax year. A calendar-year estate files by April 15. Form 7004 gets you an automatic five-and-a-half-month filing extension, but not a payment extension.7Internal Revenue Service. Forms 1041 and 1041-A – When to File The estate can also pick a non-calendar fiscal year, which sometimes creates planning opportunities worth discussing with an accountant.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1
Form 706, Federal Estate Tax
Federal estate tax applies only to estates above the basic exclusion amount, which for 2026 is $15,000,000 per individual.1Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax Estates over the threshold face a top rate of 40%. If the deceased person was married, you may still want to file Form 706 to elect portability, which transfers the unused exemption to the surviving spouse. Without this election, the surviving spouse’s estate can only use their own exemption.
Form 706 is due nine months after death, with an automatic six-month filing extension available through Form 4768. For portability-only filings where no tax is owed, filing is allowed up to five years after death. Any estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes themselves are still due at the nine-month mark regardless of a filing extension.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 706
Take Your Fee and Reimburse Your Expenses
Every state entitles the executor to compensation from the estate. About half the states set it by statutory formula, typically a tiered percentage of the estate’s value running from roughly 0.5% on very large estates to higher percentages on the first dollars. The rest use a “reasonable compensation” standard based on complexity and time invested. A specific fee written into the will usually overrides the state default.
Whatever you receive is taxable income to you. If this is not your line of work, report the fee on Schedule 1 of your Form 1040. If you serve as executor professionally, it is self-employment income on Schedule C.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators
Separately, you can reimburse yourself for legitimate out-of-pocket expenses: court filing fees, postage for creditor notices, appraisal costs, travel to manage distant property, and professional fees. Keep receipts. These costs are paid from estate funds and are generally deductible on the estate’s income tax return.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1041 and Schedules A, B, G, J, and K-1
Distribute Assets and Close the Estate
Only after every creditor claim is resolved and every tax return is filed should you distribute assets. Jumping the gun is the single most dangerous mistake an executor can make. If you distribute and then discover an unpaid tax bill or creditor claim, you pay the shortfall.
Protecting Yourself Before You Distribute
Federal law imposes strict liability on executors who distribute before paying government debts. You do not need to have known about the tax obligation. Handing money to beneficiaries ahead of the government triggers your personal liability up to the amount distributed.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 3713 – Priority of Government Claims
To protect yourself, consider filing Form 5495 to request a discharge from personal liability. The IRS reviews the estate’s tax filings and either confirms taxes are paid or flags what remains.10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5495, Request for Discharge from Personal Liability It is not required, but it gives you written confirmation.
Making Distributions
With debts cleared and taxes resolved, distribute per the will’s instructions. Real estate requires new deeds. Vehicles need title transfers. Cash bequests are paid by check from the estate account. If the will leaves percentages rather than dollar amounts, calculate each share based on net value after all expenses.
When the estate cannot fulfill every bequest, state law dictates which gifts are reduced first. General cash bequests are typically cut before specific property gifts. Tell beneficiaries early if there will be a shortfall.
Final Accounting and Discharge
Prepare a final accounting that shows every dollar in and out: asset values, income earned, debts paid, taxes filed, professional fees, and distributions. Beneficiaries review it, and most courts require their approval or at least the opportunity to object before signing off.
Once the court accepts the accounting, file a petition for discharge. The judge issues an order formally releasing you from your fiduciary duties and closing the estate. Keep copies of the discharge order and all estate records for several years, because tax audits and late-surfacing creditor disputes can occasionally arise after closure.