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Who should you trust to handle your assets, administer your estate, and honour your final wishes?

It’s a big question, which is why choosing the right executor for your will in Canada is one of the most important decisions you will make in your will. Without a will, a court-appointed estate administrator would be the one taking care of your affairs.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about choosing your executor—from the legal requirements to the qualities to look for in potential candidates.

Understanding the role of an executor

In Canadian wills, an executor (called a ‘liquidator’ in Quebec) is the person you appoint in your will to administer your estate after you pass away.��

Beyond just dividing your assets among beneficiaries, an executor’s duties include:

• Overseeing your funeral and burial according to your wishes
• Paying off your outstanding debts and liabilities
• Managing your assets��
• Filing your final tax return��
• Applying for probate if needed
• Distributing your assets to beneficiaries according to your will

Read more about the duties of an executor →

The executor’s role in probate

If probate is required, your executor is responsible for filing the application and managing the process. Probate is the process of validating a will and issuing a grant of probate to the executor, which gives them the legal authority to manage your assets.

If your executor is unsure how to navigate the probate process, they may hire lawyers, accountants, and other professionals to help. The estate would pay for the fees.

The difference between an executor and an estate administrator

The difference between an executor and an attorney

Your executor can act based on your will once you’ve passed away. Whereas the attorneys you appoint in your power of attorney documents can only act when you’re alive.��

Attorneys can be limited by certain circumstances, or only have authority if you lack capacity.

An attorney for property, for example, cannot manage your assets after you pass away. Your assets are managed by your executor or any co-owner with rights to survivorship.

Who should be the executor of your will?

Legal requirements for executors in Canada

In Canada, people must meet certain legal requirements before they are eligible to be someone’s executor.��

They must be:

• Of legal age in your province, typically 18 or 19 years old
• Of sound mental capacity and able to understand and manage an estate
• Willing to take on the role

But what if you appoint someone who is currently a minor, thinking that by the time you pass away, they’ll be an adult? Or what if your appointed executor no longer has mental capacity at the time of your passing? Or what if your appointed person no longer wants to take the role?

In the case where your appointed executor is still a minor, lacks capacity at the time of your passing, or does not want to take the role, one of two things may occur:

1. Your executor is considered an invalid executor, and the courts will treat your will as if no executor was appointed at all. If you haven’t appointed a backup executor who can take on this role, someone will have to apply to be your estate administrator, or the courts will appoint someone.
2. In some provinces, like Ontario, if the appointed executor is a minor, their guardian may be appointed as administrator in their place until they reach legal age.

Can the executor be a beneficiary?

Yes, your executor can also serve as one of your beneficiaries or the sole beneficiary of your estate.��

As long as there are no conflicts of interest or breaches in their executor’s legal responsibilities, it’s legal in Canada for your executor to also be your beneficiary.��

It’s common for people to appoint their spouse or partner as both their executor and sole beneficiary of their estate.��

Learn more about when an executor can also be a beneficiary →��

What to consider when choosing an executor for a will

The role of executor demands a mix of personal and professional qualities that will make sure your estate is handled efficiently and fairly.��

Try to consider the following qualities when thinking about your own candidates for executor:

• Age: Is this person already the age of majority in your province or territory? If they aren’t, or if they’re too advanced in age and may pass before you, do you have a backup executor in mind to replace them if needed?
• Trustworthiness: Your executor will have control over your assets, so selecting someone honest and reliable is crucial. If your executor betrays your trust and breaches their duty to your estate and your beneficiaries, your beneficiaries can take court action against them.
• Organizational skills: Managing an estate requires managing many moving parts. From gathering documents to communicating with beneficiaries, your executor must be able to handle multiple tasks at once.
• Financial literacy: Executors oversee your assets, which means they often manage large sums of money. Being able to understand finance, investment strategies, and how to appraise assets will be important. If they don’t have this expertise, you or they can hire corporate executors or other professionals to settle the estate. Fees would be covered by the estate but may reduce the amount of compensation the executor is entitled to.
• Impartiality: An executor is required to remain neutral to avoid conflicts and properly manage your estate.
• Availability and willingness: An executor’s duties may last years, so they need to be able to dedicate time and energy to the role.
• Location: It’s possible to name someone from another province or country as your executor, but doing so can complicate things.��
  • For example, some provinces require executors to post a bond if they live in another province or outside Canada, and there are major tax implications for appointing an executor outside Canada. This is because it changes the location of the estate to the executor’s location for tax purposes, which could mean your estate incurs additional taxes. If you are considering appointing an executor outside Canada, you may want to consult a tax professional.��

If no suitable candidate is available among your friends or family, you may consider a professional executor, for example, a trust company, lawyer, or professional executor firm like . Costs for these options are typically covered as a compensation agreement is written into the will, or are referenced in the will and signed separately. The payment they take from the estate depends on a variety of factors.��

At this time, ������Ƶ does not support the appointment of professional executors in ������Ƶ wills.

How do you ensure the executor acts in the best interest of beneficiaries?

Choosing someone with integrity and explaining their legal obligations upfront can help make sure they act in everyone’s best interests.��

Beneficiaries can also keep executors accountable through official disclosure checks and other communications.

Learn more about what an executor must disclose to beneficiaries →

Tips for choosing your executor

1. List potential candidates

Start with a list of people you trust who meet the legal requirements and have some or all of the qualities discussed above.

2. Evaluate skills

Try to rank your candidates based on executor qualities, expected availability, and your personal experiences with them. Narrow the list down to one to three people.

3. Evaluate availability

Once you’ve narrowed your list down, think about your candidate’s expected availability in the future.��

Someone who may not have children now may plan a family in the future, which may alter their availability.

Similarly, if your chosen executor has plans to move internationally, they may not be in Canada in the future, which might lead to tax implications.

Note: In ������Ƶ wills, your executor and estate trustee are one combined role. This makes things simpler and means you don’t have to repeat the process of choosing an executor when choosing a trustee. For example, if a trust is created to hold on to assets for a minor child, your executor would also act as the trustee for that trust.

Communicating your decision

Once you’ve considered who you’d like to appoint as executor, talk to them. Have an open conversation about your desire to appoint them and discuss the responsibilities and time commitment involved in the role.

If your first pick isn’t up for the task, go to the next choice on your list.��

If your first pick says yes, you can ask your second choice if they’d like to be your backup executor.����

When evaluating family members and friends for this role, it's important to consider their expected emotional capacity to handle it. Grieving loved ones may find the demands of executor duties overwhelming.

How to ask someone to be your executor

In Canada, we don’t have a prevalent culture of talking about death. But overcoming that and genuinely communicating with your chosen executor about your wishes is important, especially since an executor can decline to take on the role when the time comes.

You may want to start by explaining why you want them as your executor and then touch on why you trust them and value their skills to help administer your estate.

It’s also important to give them a clear picture of what to expect in the role. Be transparent about the duties, time commitment, and the potential challenges they might face as an executor.��

A great resource you can share with them is ������Ƶ’s free executor checklist.

Finally, talk about compensation. Executors in Canada are generally entitled to compensation, which can vary depending on the complexity of your estate, the amount of work the executor needs to do, and your estate’s value. It’s important to outline these details to your potential executor upfront.

What percentage of a will goes to the executor?

Executor compensation is often between 2% to 5% of the estate’s total value, but this can vary by province. While it is possible to stipulate an executor’s compensation in your will, it’s unnecessary since legislation in each province outlines compensation based on the size of the estate and the effort involved with the estate administration process. ������Ƶ does not currently include an executor compensation clause in our wills.��

Make it official

Finalize your decisions by appointing your chosen executor in your will and signing it in the presence of two valid witnesses.

Remember that your witnesses cannot be your executors or anyone else named in your will.

How do you name an executor in a will?

You can officially appoint someone as your executor by including their full name in your will as your executor. ������Ƶ provides step-by-step instructions to help guide you through this process.

Can you have two executors of a will?

Yes, it’s possible to name co-executors in your will.��

However, while this approach can distribute executor responsibilities, it can also make things more complicated or even slow down your estate’s administration, as co-executors must both approve every estate decision before it can proceed.��

While it’s common to appoint co-executors, for example, two of your adult children, it means they also must agree on decisions related to settling the estate, and the only remedy in many cases, if they disagree, is going to court.

Expert insights on choosing your executor

Consider what their emotions might be like upon your passing

“Ensure your executor and backup executors will have the wherewithal to carry out their duties,” says Shawn Patenaude, an estate lawyer in Saskatchewan. “Consider the impact your death may have on their mindset.”

Prepare them for the time commitment

“One of the most crucial steps is preparing your executor,” says Julia Wilkie, certified estate planning expert and COO at ������Ƶ. “Being an executor is a big responsibility. It often takes between 12-18 months to complete all the necessary steps for a typical estate.”

Don’t forget about digital assets

“It is important to choose an executor you trust and who is digitally savvy and capable of handling your digital assets after you pass away,” adds Kevin Kelly, an estate lawyer in Alberta. “It is equally important during the estate planning process to compile this digital information for your executor to make their job easier.”����

You can help your executor in the future by preparing information documents to guide the settlement process. This can include things like a letter to the executor, ������Ƶ’s asset and liabilities list, a folder with important documents like deeds and ownership papers, etc.

Appoint an executor you trust today

By understanding the role, carefully evaluating your candidates, and talking to your loved ones about your decisions, you can ensure your estate is managed according to your wishes.��

Take the first step today to make your will with ������Ƶ, and get access to more Canadian estate planning resources like this, plus free unlimited document updates and an asset list to help your executor keep track of your estate.