What is the role of an Executor and Trustee?

An Executor is someone chosen in a Will to handle a person’s assets and liabilities.

The Executor takes on the important role of administering the deceased's estate, such as managing assets and following the instructions in the Will.

This job can be tough, especially for complicated estates. Appointing family members as Executors might be hard for them, especially when they’re already emotionally overwhelmed with the loss of a loved one.

The executor’s duties include:

• Collecting and managing the testator's assets
• Paying off debts and taxes owed by the estate
• Distributing the remaining assets to the beneficiaries as per the Will. Some Beneficiaries may not take their gift right away such as a young person of 16 or when the Testator has expressly chosen to delay the gift. In such cases, the Executor has an extra duty to act as Trustee until the Beneficiary can take the gift for himself.
• Filing necessary legal documents and managing any disputes

Appointing a professional Executor may be a better option as it can alleviate the challenges and emotional strain associated with administering a loved one’s assets.

In Singapore, one such option is appointing a licensed trust company to act as the corporate executor.

The question is, how different is it between appointing a corporate executor and appointing an individual as the executor?

A corporate executor is useful in the following scenarios:

• When the testator has no reliable individual to act as the executor. This could be due to a small nuclear family or when all the beneficiaries are minors
• Potential conflict among family members and avoidance of disputes
• Family members are all overseas

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Comparison of an Individual Trustee and Corporate Trustee