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The Role of the Executor One of the most important things you can do to best ensure that your estate is handled without a hitch is to appoint the right person as your executor, who is sometimes called a personal representative. A Will must name an executor to carry out your wishes. You can choose whom you would like, but know that there are many duties required of an executor that can last for a considerable amount of time, even years, depending on how complicated your estate is. So you should choose someone capable, especially when it comes to financial matters, and who has the diplomacy skills to handle any family issues that may come up. If you can’t identify anyone among your family and close friends whom you think would be capable and would agree to take on this responsibility, you can name your attorney as your executor. All executors receive a stipend, or “commission,” paid from estate assets for their services. This commission is based on state law. Keep in mind that an attorney retained to perform legal work for an estate will usually charge the estate his or her normal hourly rate or take a percentage of the estate as a legal fee. This will be in addition to receiving any statutory commission he may be entitled to receive under state law. Some states require that the Will maker, called a testator, sign a special disclosure form acknowledging that she knows that her attorney may be paid both for acting as legal counsel and as executor. If you choose someone who is going to rely on your attorney for everything, and simply show up to attach his or her signature to documents when called to do so, then your attorney will be doing most of the work in any case and charging the estate. So perhaps having your attorney act as executor could make sense, even in light of the fact that an attorney might be entitled to executor’s fees as well as fees for legal work. In general, though, family members are traditionally selected as executors. The duties of the executor are many and varied. One of the first steps an executor named in a Will must take is to arrange for his or her court appointment in a process called probate. An attorney is almost always retained to petition the court for the probate