How many executors should I have?

The executor named in your Will is the person who is going to take charge of all aspects of your legal and financial affairs after you have passed away. Your executor is going to have a lot of authority, so the choice of executor is crucial.

Some people like the idea of having more than one executor, which is an option. Sometimes this is because there is a lot of work to be done. For example, the owner of a large business might want to have someone familiar with his business to act together with someone from his family. The goal there is to share the workload and pool the skills and knowledge of the two executors.

Sometimes people want more than one executor because they hope the executors will keep an eye on each other and keep each other honest.

If there is more than one executor named, the co-executors must act jointly. Neither of them is the "lead" executor or "main" executor. Each has equal legal authority. If you are considering naming more than one person to act as your executor, give some thought to how well the two (or more) of them will get along. How difficult will it be for them to reach important decisions together?

From time to time I hear from clients who want to appoint all of their children together to be their executors. As a general rule, I'm not in favour of that because I don't think it's realistic. For one thing, if four or five people have to review and sign every document, everything is going to take longer. For another thing, the chances that four or five siblings will agree on the myriad of decisions that have to be made on an estate are next to nothing. People have different values, different expectations, different decision-making styles, and of course each of them has a spouse with an opinion as well. In my experience, this is asking too much of people, particularly at a time when emotions are close to the surface and everyone is dealing with the loss of a loved one.

Having three executors is relatively rare, but does happen particularly for business owners. In this case, be sure to consider putting in a clause that allows decisions to be made by majority vote rather than unanimity, to avoid deadlocks.

If you are appointing just one person as your executor, as most people do, you must also appoint an alternate executor. The alternate does not work with the executor. The alternate only comes into the picture if the first-named executor is unable or unwilling to take on the job. In older Wills, the alternate could only take over as executor if the first-named executor had died. In more modern Wills, the alternate can also be called upon to take over if the first-named executor has lost mental capacity or simply refuses to act as executor.

Often husbands and wives name each other as their executor but aren't sure who to appoint to act when both of them have passed away. A solution that is becoming more popular is naming a trust company to do the bulk of the work, together with one of the children.

Do not choose anyone to be your executor simply because you want to do them an honour. Being an executor is hard work. Generally executors don't enjoy it. Try to choose an executor based on who is best suited to do the work you need them to do. Consider geographical distance. Consider personalities and personal skills. And of course, you must consider trustworthiness.