Executor Duties WA | Estate Administration Checklist

Direct answer: An executor's job is to secure the estate, establish authority to deal with it, identify and pay the debts, and then distribute what is left to the people entitled under the will - in that order. The role is a legal duty owed to the beneficiaries, not an honorary title, and an executor who distributes too early or without proper records can be personally liable.

The first fortnight

Locate the original will. A photocopy creates real difficulty; the original is what the court needs.
Arrange the funeral. The executor generally has authority over funeral arrangements, and reasonable funeral expenses are payable from the estate.
Obtain the death certificate from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Order several certified copies - most institutions want their own.
Secure the assets: lock the house, check insurance is current and notify the insurer that the property is unoccupied, secure vehicles, and take possession of valuables.
Redirect mail, and stop automatic payments that should not continue.
Notify banks, superannuation funds, Centrelink, the ATO, utilities and any employer.

Insurance is the item most often missed. Many home policies limit or exclude cover once a property has been unoccupied for a period, and an uninsured loss at that point falls on the estate.

Do you need a grant of probate?

Not every estate needs one. Probate is a grant from the Supreme Court of Western Australia confirming the will is valid and the executor has authority to administer the estate. Whether it is required depends on what the assets are and who holds them:

Real property in the deceased's sole name, or as a tenant in common, will generally require a grant to transfer or sell.
Property held as joint tenants passes to the surviving joint tenant by survivorship and is generally outside the estate.
Banks and share registries set their own thresholds; larger balances almost always require a grant.
Superannuation is usually not an estate asset, and is paid by the trustee under the fund rules and any binding nomination.

Where no grant is needed, the executor still owes the same duties - the absence of a court process does not lower the standard.

Identify assets and liabilities properly

Prepare a schedule of everything the deceased owned and owed as at the date of death, with values. That means bank accounts, real property, vehicles, shares, business interests, loans owed to the deceased, and personal effects of real value; and against them, mortgages, credit cards, personal loans, tax owing, funeral expenses and any guarantee the deceased had given.

Debts are paid before beneficiaries receive anything. Where the estate cannot pay its debts in full there is an order in which they must be paid, and an executor who pays a beneficiary ahead of a creditor can be personally answerable for it.

The six-month rule before distributing

This is the point on which executors most often go wrong. In Western Australia, a person who believes they have not been adequately provided for can bring a family provision claim under the Family Provision Act 1972 (WA), and the period for doing so runs for six months from the date of the grant. An executor who distributes the estate before that period has passed, and before being satisfied no claim is on foot, risks personal exposure if a claim succeeds afterwards.

The practical course is to wait until six months from the grant before making the final distribution, and to publish the appropriate notice for creditors. An interim distribution is sometimes possible where the estate is clearly ample and the risk is understood, but that is a decision to take on advice rather than on family pressure.

What an executor should not do

Distribute early because beneficiaries are impatient.
Mix estate money with personal money. Use a dedicated estate account.
Sell an asset to a beneficiary, or to themselves, without transparency and agreement.
Prefer one beneficiary over another, or delay to advantage themselves.
Fail to keep records. The executor must be able to account for every dollar.
Ignore a family provision claim in the hope it resolves itself.
Continue to trade a business without advice on authority and personal exposure.

Records and accounts

Keep a file that would satisfy a stranger: the asset and liability schedule, every valuation, every bank statement for the estate account, receipts for every payment, correspondence with beneficiaries, and a distribution statement at the end. Beneficiaries are entitled to be informed, and a clear account prevents most estate disputes from starting.

Can an executor be paid, or step down?

An executor is generally not entitled to be paid for their time unless the will provides for it or the court allows a commission, though they are entitled to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses properly incurred. An executor who does not wish to act can renounce, but that has to happen before they have started to deal with the estate - once they have intermeddled, stepping back is far harder.

How Legal Care Australia can help

We advise on whether a grant is needed, prepare and lodge the probate application, help identify and value assets, deal with debts and notices, advise on the timing of distribution and on any family provision claim, and prepare the final distribution statement. Where the estate includes a business, a trust or property held in unusual ways, we identify that early rather than at settlement.

Next step: bring the original will, the death certificate and a list of assets and liabilities as best you know them.

Official sources

General information only, not legal advice. Estates differ, and the will and the assets govern what is required.

Executor Duties in Western Australia: A Practical Checklist