Should You Appoint Co-Executors In Your Will?

By: Marc S. Galella, Esq. of R.C. Shea & Associates

As I explain to people when discussing estate planning, one of the reasons you do a Last Will and Testament, and possibly the most important reason, is to provide for the orderly disposition of your assets at the time when you pass away.

A common question that is asked when I am preparing an estate plan is whether someone should appoint more than one person to be their executor. In almost all cases my answer is NO. I do not believe that someone should appoint more than one person to be the executor of their estate.

My reason for this is quite simple. If you appoint two persons to be your co-executors it would require that both of those persons agree on all decisions that need to be made in handling your estate and all documents related to your estate would need to be signed by both persons. In the best-case scenario this can be cumbersome. In many cases, the co-executors do not reside in the same town, which would require that the documents that need to be signed have to be mailed to obtain the necessary two signatures. Of course, this additional mailing would translate into additional costs for the estate.

The problem that we have encountered is what happens when the two co-executors cannot agree on how to settle the estate?

For example, suppose the estate has a house that needs to be sold and the co-executors cannot agree on the sales price. Having the co-executors fighting with each other is not the “orderly disposition of your assets.” If the two co-executors cannot agree on various decisions on behalf of the estate, the only recourse available would be for one of them to go to court and ask a judge to remove the other co-executor. In such a case, a judge will have to choose between the “good” co-executor and the “bad” co-executor. Unfortunately, in many of these cases each co-executor will try to present evidence to the court as to why the other co-executor is the “bad” co-executor. In many cases, the judge will conclude that if the two co-executors cannot agree then it is best to remove them both and appoint an independent person to act as the executor for the estate. (Legally this person would be referred to as an administrator CTA.)

Thus, you could wind up with a perfect stranger handling your estate because your two co-executors could not cooperate with each other. Accordingly, I always urge people not to appoint co-executors but rather to choose the individual they think is best capable of acting as the executor and then naming the other person as an alternate executor in the event the first person is incapable of acting.