Being named executor of someone’s estate can feel overwhelming, especially if it’s the first time you’ve taken on the role. Rather than a list of general responsibilities, it helps to see the job the way it actually unfolds: a sequence of specific steps, each one building on the last, from the moment you learn you’ve been named until the estate is finally closed.
Step 1: Locate the Will and Confirm Your Appointment
Your very first task is finding the original signed will, not a copy, since Texas probate courts generally require the original document. Once located, you’ll need to file an application with the appropriate probate court to be formally appointed, at which point the court issues Letters Testamentary, the document that gives you actual legal authority to act on the estate’s behalf. Until you have these letters in hand, banks, insurers, and other institutions generally won’t recognize your authority.
Step 2: Secure the Property and Set Up a Record-Keeping System
Before diving into anything else, take steps to physically secure the deceased person’s home, vehicles, and valuable belongings, and start a dedicated filing and record-keeping system from day one. Every step that follows, from paying bills to communicating with beneficiaries, will go more smoothly if your documentation is organized from the very beginning rather than pieced together later under pressure.
Step 3: Notify the People and Institutions Who Need to Know
Early on, you’ll need to notify banks, insurance companies, government agencies, and any relevant employers or benefit providers of the death. This step often includes closing or freezing accounts, redirecting mail, and canceling or transferring recurring services and subscriptions the deceased person no longer needs, all of which helps prevent unnecessary charges and reduces the risk of fraud on the deceased person’s accounts.
Step 4: Take Inventory of the Estate’s Assets
With legal authority in hand, your next major task is compiling a complete inventory of the estate’s property and determining its value. This includes bank accounts, real estate, vehicles, investments, and personal belongings. It’s important to distinguish probate assets, meaning property that passes through the estate, from non-probate assets like assets held in a trust, accounts with named beneficiaries, or property held in survivorship, since those generally pass outside the probate process entirely.
Step 5: Identify and Handle Debts, Claims, and Taxes
Once you know what the estate includes, you’ll need to identify legitimate debts and claims against the estate and handle them according to Texas’s required order of priority, rather than paying whichever creditor asks first. This step also includes filing any required tax returns on behalf of the estate. Handling this out of order, or overlooking a required step, can create personal exposure for an executor, which is one of the most important reasons to move carefully through this phase.
Step 6: Communicate With Beneficiaries Along the Way
Throughout the process, beneficiaries generally expect meaningful updates on how the estate is progressing. Providing clear, honest communication, while staying neutral among beneficiaries with differing interests, helps prevent misunderstandings and reduces the likelihood of a dispute arising from beneficiaries feeling left in the dark.
Step 7: Distribute the Remaining Assets
Only after debts, claims, and taxes are resolved should you move forward with distributing the estate’s remaining assets to beneficiaries according to the will’s terms. Distributing assets before these obligations are fully handled can create serious personal liability for an executor, so this step needs to come after Step 5 is genuinely complete, not before.
Step 8: Prepare a Final Accounting and Close the Estate
The last step involves preparing a final accounting of everything you managed as executor, including assets collected, debts paid, and distributions made, and formally closing the estate through the probate court. This final step provides both you and the beneficiaries with a clear, documented record that the estate was administered properly from start to finish.
Common Ordering Mistakes New Executors Make
Many of the problems executors run into come from doing things out of order rather than doing something outright wrong, such as distributing assets before debts are settled, or notifying beneficiaries before actually understanding the full scope of the estate. Following these steps roughly in sequence, rather than tackling whichever task feels most urgent first, helps avoid the kind of mistakes that can create personal liability later.
Get Guidance Through Every Step of Executing an Estate
At The Goodson Firm P.C., we help newly appointed executors across Texas move through this process step by step, from obtaining Letters Testamentary to final distribution and closing the estate, as part of our broader probate and estate planning services. Learn more about our attorney and how we support executors throughout the process.