A client came to my office with a shoebox. Inside was a tangle of papers—a will from 1998, old bank statements, a car title, and a handful of letters. His father had passed away in Brooklyn, and he was named as the executor, but he had no idea where to begin. The sheer volume of paper was paralyzing.
I have heard this story for decades. When you are grieving, the last thing you want to face is a bureaucratic scavenger hunt. But the first step in fulfilling your duties as an executor is not action. It is assembly. Before you can manage an estate, you must first understand what it contains.
Establishing the Foundation: The Will and the Death Certificate
Two documents form the bedrock of any estate administration. The first is the official death certificate. This is the government’s formal recognition that a person has passed, and it acts as the starting pistol for the entire process. You will need multiple certified copies—not photocopies. Banks, insurance companies, and government agencies will each require one to close accounts or pay benefits.
The second is the original Last Will and Testament. This document is the decedent’s voice, their final set of instructions for the stewardship of their legacy. It names the executor—the person entrusted with carrying out those instructions—and directs how assets should be distributed. Finding this original document is critical. A copy is sometimes acceptable, but proving it to the court is a much higher hurdle.
These two documents answer the foundational questions: Who has passed away, and who did they appoint to manage their affairs?
Gaining Authority from the Surrogate’s Court
Simply possessing the will does not grant you the power to act. To have legal authority, the will must be admitted to probate by the Surrogate’s Court in the county where the deceased lived. This formal process, governed by Article 14 of the New York Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA), validates the will and officially appoints the executor.
Once the court is satisfied, it issues a document called Letters Testamentary. This piece of paper—often a single page with a raised seal—is the executor’s key to the kingdom. It is the legal proof of your authority. With it, you can open an estate bank account, request information from financial institutions, and begin the process of gathering—or “marshaling”—the estate’s assets. Without it, you are just a family member with a document. You have no legal standing to act for the estate.
Mapping the Estate: The Fiduciary’s Inventory
Once you have Letters Testamentary, your primary fiduciary duty is to create an inventory of the estate. This is not an informal tally. It is a meticulous accounting of everything the decedent owned and everything they owed.
This inventory includes:
- Financial Accounts: Bank statements, investment and brokerage records, and retirement account statements.
- Real Property: Deeds for any homes, apartments, or land.
- Tangible Personal Property: Titles for vehicles, and appraisals for valuable items like art, jewelry, or collectibles.
- Liabilities: Mortgages, credit card statements, outstanding loans, and medical bills. An executor is responsible for paying the legitimate debts of the estate before distributing any assets to beneficiaries.
You must also identify assets that pass outside of the will. These are non-probate assets, such as life insurance policies or retirement accounts with named beneficiaries. While not controlled by the will, their value is essential for tax purposes and for providing a complete picture to the family.
Closing the Books: Taxes and Final Accounting
An executor’s final duties involve settling accounts with the government and the beneficiaries. You will need the decedent’s past tax returns to prepare their final personal income tax return (Form 1040). You will also file an income tax return for the estate itself (Form 1041) for any income it earns during the administration period.
While the federal estate tax exemption is over $13 million, New York has its own estate tax with a much lower threshold of $6.94 million as of 2024. A careful calculation must be made to determine if a New York estate tax return is required. A mistake here can create significant personal liability for the executor.
After all debts and taxes are paid, the executor provides an accounting to the beneficiaries showing what was collected, what was paid out, and what is left for distribution. This final report is the culmination of your work as a steward for the estate, providing clarity and closure for the family.
If you have been named an executor and are facing that initial box of papers, your first step is organization. I advise new executors to begin by creating a simple ledger of the documents they have and those they suspect are missing. Our first meeting is then spent turning that ledger into a clear roadmap for the administration ahead.
