What Is a Professional Executor and When Should You Name One in BC?

A professional executor is a trust company or an estate lawyer whose job is to be an executor, and they can also be the trustee of a disability or alter ego trust. Consider naming one when no friend or relative is willing or able to act, or when naming a family member could cause conflict, for example between children who don’t get along.

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• Probate and Estate Administration Lawyers

Full transcript

What is a professional executor and when should I name one in my will? A professional executor is someone whose profession it is to carry out the role of an executor in a will. They might be a trust company who employs trust officers to carry out that role, or it could be a lawyer who practices estate law and is willing to be named as an executor in your will. Professional executors might also carry out the role of a trustee of a trust which could be a disability trust or an alter ego trust. You should consider naming a professional executor or trustee when you do not have a close friend or family member who’s willing or capable of carrying out that role.

They may not be willing or capable because of age or health issues. They could also be in a conflict, so you might have two children that don’t get along well and it might put one of them in a difficult position to be that executor, in which case you might think of appointing a professional who can be unbiased and capable of carrying that role out without conflict.

General information, not legal advice.