Glossary for Being an Executor

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by Helen Low, QC in January 2016.

Assets

Property owned by a person at their death. Assets can include things such as money, land, investments, and personal possessions such as jewelry and furniture.

Beneficiary

A person designated to receive money or property in a will, benefit plan, or insurance policy.

Debts

What the deceased owed at death. These may include credit card balances, loans, and mortgages. Also called “liabilities”.

Estate

All of the property and belongings owned by the deceased, with some exceptions. The estate does not include property owned with someone else jointly (such as a joint bank account) or property which has a designated beneficiary (such as an insurance policy).

Estate administrator

A person appointed by the court to take charge of an estate where the executor is unable or unwilling to act, or there is no valid will.

Executor

The person named in a will to carry out the instructions in the will and settle the will-maker’s affairs after they die.

Grant of probate

The court's certification in a probate application that the will submitted by the executor is legally valid and can be acted on.

Intermeddled

To interfere in the affairs of others. In the context of an estate, to deal with the assets or liabilities of the deceased.

Probate

A legal procedure that confirms a will is legally valid and can be acted on. It allows financial institutions and others to rely on the will as being the last will made by the deceased.

Probate fees

In addition to any fees payable to begin a probate application, fees must be paid to the court based on the value of the estate before a grant of probate will be issued.

Renounce

To decline an appointment as executor.

Residue

The residue of the estate is whatever is left over after the executor pays all the debts and expenses and distributes any specific gifts.

Trust

A part of the estate that is set aside in the will to provide ongoing income for a beneficiary, often a child.

Will

A legal document that leaves instructions about what the person making the will wants done with their assets and obligations after they die.

Will-maker

A person who makes a will.