Executors, why are you so secretive about what you're doing?

I have just spent a bit of time answering some of the email questions I get from readers. I noticed that right now I have at least ten emails from beneficiaries asking me how to get information from the executors of estates. Beneficiaries who wrote to me said they have waited anything from a few months to several years for information that just doesn't seem to be forthcoming.

So what is it with executors being so stingy with information? What's the big secret anyway? I've always contended that if an executor can't or won't tell the beneficiaries what they're doing, the executors are probably doing something they shouldn't.

I'm not saying that the executors should blab private information all over the place. I'm not asking executors to hand out copies of paperwork to just anyone who asks. But when those people who are entitled to ask for information make a request, why do so many executors ignore the request, or respond with outright hostility? It makes a person wonder what's going on.

Is it really surprising that beneficiaries start to become suspicious when a house is being sold and bank accounts are being emptied, and nobody will even confirm the most basic information? This is where beneficiaries who were perfectly happy with the executor before lose faith, and lose patience, and start looking for lawyers to take the executor to court.

Executors should realize that residuary beneficiaries of the estate are entitled to a full accounting of all transactions. Yes, ALL of them. This is usually done through a statement or ledger prepared by the executor, as it would be unreasonable for an executor to have to photocopy every single receipt and parking stub for every beneficiary. This means that the beneficiaries are entitled to ask for the information if the executor doesn't provide it voluntarily. It's not the estate lawyer's job to give this accounting; this is the executor's job.

For you executors who simply won't answer a simple question when a beneficiary asks one, and forces a beneficiary to go through the courts, think about this. If the beneficiary is entitled to the information, and you are obligated to provide it, how do you think you look to the judge as you stand there talking about why you refused to provide it?

I assume that if you had a really good reason for not providing financial information, like say your house burned down with all of the estate paperwork in it, that you'd simply tell the beneficiary what happened and ask for 30 days to re-gather the paperwork from other sources. The beneficiary would then have to be reasonable in return, and give you that chance to get your documents together. As a general rule, every executor should be able to produce a full, written accounting within 30 days of a residuary beneficiary asking for one.

 Being busy really isn't going to cut it as an excuse; if you can't get the job done, maybe you should consider being taken off as executor.