CHOOSING AN EXECUTOR and trustee is one of life’s most IMPORTANT DECISION. we have the knowledge, experience and trust to help.

Having an experienced professional handle your estate provides peace of mind that your final wishes will be carried out precisely as you intended.  Open Door Law’s team of experienced advisors have the necessary experience to get the work done professionally. We are no strangers to stick-handling our client’s sensitive family issues and we work with compassion, grace and objectivity.  As independent professionals, we take care of all aspects of executor services to ensure that your estate is settled as quickly as possible, with the least amount of settlement issues. The result that we strive for is respect for our client’s wishes and greater wealth distribution to your beneficiaries.

what we do

When the solicitors at Open Door Law are appointed as your executor, we strive to stay in touch with our clients approximately once every year to update whether anything significant has changed in their life with respect to health, wealth, beneficiaries. If we learn that a person has passed, we spring into action by immediately taking possession of the deceased’s body and carrying out any last rights, rituals and wishes and we execute any final instructions such as contacting loved ones. Common things that do as part of our executor services include: 


• Determine where and who has custody of assets;
• Inventory all of the assets of the estate and checking insurance policies to see what risk remains and whether insurance is required to ensure assets are preserved until distribution;
• Carefully manage estate assets to manage risk and where appropriate to ensure they are invested while the estate is being administered;
• Hiring where appropriate investment or real estate property managers;
• Publishing notice to creditors to advise that we intend to distribute an estate;
• Evaluating and where applicable, paying proven debts of the estate;
• Working with an accountant to prepare final income tax returns relating to the estate and applying for a tax clearance certificate;
• Apply to and obtain from the courts a Grant of Probate which vests legal authority in us to administer the estate;
  Distributing specifically-identified items to named beneficiaries;
• Liquidating other estate assets in a prudent manner in order to satisfy any cash legacies described in the will;
• Making interim distributions, where appropriate, to remaining beneficiaries;
• Deal with any statutory or other legal claims against an estate such as under the wills variation sections of Wills, Estates & Succession Act; and
• Upon receipt of the income tax clearance certificates, making the final distribution of the remaining estate assets to the named beneficiaries.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD EXECUTOR?

A good professional executor has all the ideal characteristics of a good lawyer: experienced, impartial, fair, trustworthy, competent, local, efficient and experienced. Being familiar with a person and their wishes and working hard to ensure that those wishes are faithfully observed is the hallmark of the Open Door Law executor.

WHAT IS THE COST IF OPEN DOOR LAW IS USED AS MY PROFESSIONAL EXECUTOR?

Professional executors generally range in cost. Under the Trustee Act of British Columbia, an executor and trustee is entitled to up to five (5) percent of the value of one’s estate. Anyone who settles your estate (e.g. spouse, child, sibling or friend) is entitled to be compensated. That compensation can be more or less than what a professional lawyer may charge. In a will, one can state how much an executor should be remunerated, but be aware that your executor can seek the approval of a court to be paid more based on the prevailing law at the time.

Our fees to act as executor will vary depending on the complexity of the estate work involved, the complexity of the estate and distribution scheme. In practice, we tend to be less expensive than the public guardian and trustee of British Columbia and trust corporations who often run through banks and provide similar estate services as those which we offer. We always ensure that our clients understand our fees before we agree to act as we believe in transparency and wish there to be no surprises in the estate planning process. Executor fees are paid from an estate prior to the distribution. No up-front fees are required of a client.

WHEN SHOULD I USE A PROFESSIONAL EXECUTOR?

A professional executor is best if you:

• Have no family members living close by;
• Have complex assets;
• Have a blended or non-traditional family such as a second marriage;
• Have family members with special needs and/or who would benefit from support in managing their inheritance;
• Have assets or beneficiaries located out of the country; or
• Want to ease the burden on loved ones or reduce conflict at a difficult time by appointing a neutral outsider. 


Hiring a professional executor could be one of the most important and lasting gifts that you provide to your beneficiaries. If you wish to discuss our services further, we are happy to provide a no fee consultation to determine if we are a good fit for your estate. Contact us to set up a meeting now.