What advantages does my brother have if I agree to let him become the
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What advantages does my brother have if I agree to let him become the
My mother passed over 3 years ago and my older brother is now asking me to sign a document to make him
Asked on February 7, 2018 under Estate Planning, New Jersey
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Any executor is the "manager" for the estate: they gather it, preserve it, manage it, sell it (if that's the best option), and distribute to the heirs and beneficiaries. An executor has no rights to the estate (the assets left behind by the deceased) and only gets whatever he would be entitled to otherwise (e.g. by a will if there was one; or by virtue of his relationship to the deceased, if no will). An executor is entitled to a small amount of compensation, set by te law, for being executor, but that's it.
So being executor does not give him any *legal* rights to the assets. But if you don't trust him, being executor, since it gives him the power to manage the assets and estate, could let him steal. For example: say the car is worth $10k. Maybe he sells it to a friend for $7.5k and the friend pays your brother $2k for doing so "under the table." When the proceeds from the car are divided between you and him, you each get half of $7.5k, or $3,750--except he also got his $2k under the table, which you don't get. A crooked executor can often find ways to profit at the beneficiaries' expense. So if you don't trust him and think he would cheat you, this could be an issue.
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