Why Use EstateExec?

If You're Working without a Lawyer...

Save Weeks of Effort

Sure, you could search all over the Internet, or buy a couple of thick books and spend hours trying to decipher the executor process, but EstateExec will construct a custom plan for you and lay out the key steps in an easy-to-follow checklist with explanatory details and calculated due dates.

Even if you already know the executor process, you still have to do the work, and that includes tracking a variety of assets, ensuring debts are resolved, allocating distributions and more. EstateExec makes all this easy, and even enables you to optionally download transactions directly from your estate account's bank, reducing manual entry drudgery and minimizing the chance for errors.

It takes an average of 570 hours of work for an executor to settle a US estate, and while Canadian estates tend to be a bit simpler, they still require substantial effort. You could try to do all this by hand on paper, but that's a good way to introduce mistakes, and won't look particularly reliable if you have to submit these records to the court. You could try to build your own custom spreadsheets, but that takes time and effort, and when you're done they probably won't automatically link asset sales to the estate account balance, for example, or optimize asset distribution decisions.

Save Thousands of Dollars

Most executors are first-timers, and immediately head to a lawyer for help. This may actually be a good idea (see Do I Need a Lawyer?), but if EstateExec allows you to forgo using a lawyer, or reduce reliance on one, we estimate you'll save thousands of dollars: we don't have recent figures for Canada, but the average estate in the US spends $12,400 on legal and accounting fees.

EstateExec will also help you find hidden assets, AND provide unique discounts with third-party services needed by many executors, such as estate liquidators, junk removal services, and more. These discounts alone will likely more than pay for your EstateExec license!

Protect Yourself

An executor has a fiduciary duty to follow the correct processes ... and to be able to provide clear records of what you did (when you paid insurance bills, what expenses you incurred, which assets you sold and for how much, etc.). EstateExec makes this process easy, and you can print or save PDF files. You will likely have to submit these records to the probate court as a routine part of probate, but you'll be even happier to have them if something goes wrong and you end up challenged in court by an unhappy heir.

Preserve Family Relationships

Sadly, it's all too common for family relationships to become strained during the estate settlement process, as lack of information about the process and estate status leads to suspicions, confrontations, and even lawsuits. EstateExec will help you clearly present all the assets, debts, what you are doing with them, and who is getting what ... and you can optionally share this information online with heirs so they feel more comfortable, and can even indicate distribution preferences.

If You're Working with a Lawyer...

Save Days of Effort

Settling an estate with a lawyer is a little like paying your taxes with an accountant ... you still have to do a lot of the work. You're the one that has to go through the mail, collect the bills, gather the assets, track their value, decide which ones to sell, allocate items for the various heirs, and so on. Do you really want to devote an entire workweek or two of additional time to this if you don't have to?

And if you're the one tracking estate finances, EstateExec can optionally download transactions directly from your estate account's bank, reducing manual entry drudgery and minimizing the chance for errors.

Reduce Costs

EstateExec should enable you to reduce billable lawyer hours. First, it provides a convenient, structured way to share information about the estate, so that both you and your lawyer can log into the estate and see the latest status (debts forgiven, assets sold, distributions allocated, etc.), record actions, and so forth: this saves everyone time. Second, it gives you a clearer understanding of what is going on, so you don't have to spend as much time asking your lawyer questions and running up your bill. And if your lawyer is the one tracking estate expenses, then he or she can reduce time required for manual data entry by automatically downloading transactions directly from the estate account's bank. As mentioned above, we don't have recent figures for Canada, but the average estate in the US spends $12,400 on legal and accounting fees.

EstateExec will also help you find hidden assets, AND provide unique discounts with third-party services needed by many executors, such as estate liquidators, junk removal services, and more. These discounts alone will likely more than pay for your EstateExec license!

Preserve Family Relationships

Whether or not you're using a lawyer, family relationships can become strained during the estate settlement process, as lack of information about the process and estate status leads to suspicions, confrontations, and even lawsuits by other disgruntled heirs. EstateExec will help you clearly present all the assets, debts, what you are doing with them, and who is getting what ... and you can optionally share this information online with heirs so they feel more comfortable, and can even indicate distribution preferences.