What Does an Executor do When Someone Dies?

If you’ve been named executor of a loved one’s estate in Alabama, here’s what the job actually involves: file the will with the probate court in the county where the person lived, get appointed and receive your Letters Testamentary, inventory the assets, open an estate bank account, notify creditors and wait out Alabama’s six-month claim period, handle the tax filings, and then distribute what remains to the beneficiaries. Start to finish, most Alabama estates take six months to a year to administer — the six-month creditor window sets the floor. The title is an honor, but it’s also a legal role with personal liability attached, so it’s worth understanding the full job before you accept it. Here’s the process, step by step.

What Is an Executor and How Is One Named?

An executor — called a personal representative in modern usage — is the person named in a Last Will and Testament to carry out its instructions: gathering the deceased person’s assets, paying valid debts, and transferring what remains to the heirs and beneficiaries. If there’s no will, or the named executor can’t or won’t serve, the Alabama probate court appoints an administrator to do the same job. This guide uses “executor” for both.

The role’s defining feature is that the executor is a fiduciary: legally obligated to act in the best interests of the estate and its beneficiaries, never in their own. Breaching that duty — commingling funds, self-dealing, favoring one beneficiary, sitting on the administration — can expose the executor to personal liability. That’s not a theoretical risk; it’s the reason executors get sued. Understanding the full scope before you accept, ideally in a conversation with an Alabama probate and estate attorney, is the single best protective step you can take.

Step 1: Obtain Certified Copies of the Death Certificate

The first practical task is ordering certified copies of the death certificate — plural. Banks, investment firms, insurance companies, government agencies, and the probate court will each typically demand their own certified copy before acting on anything. Order six to eight at the outset. Running out mid-administration and waiting on reorders is one of the most common self-inflicted delays.

Step 2: Locate the Will and File It with the Probate Court

Next, find the original will — not a copy — and file it with the Probate Court of the county where the deceased person resided at death. Filing the will and petitioning for probate is what “opens the estate.” One deadline matters here more than any other: under Alabama Code §43-8-161, a will generally must be offered for probate within five years of the person’s death. Families who sit on a will — often because the estate seems simple or everyone gets along — can lose the ability to probate it at all, which means the estate passes as if there were no will.

Once the court admits the will and appoints you, it issues Letters Testamentary (Letters of Administration if there’s no will). This document is your credential. It’s what proves to banks, brokerages, the DMV, and everyone else that you have court-recognized authority to act for the estate. Without Letters, most institutions will not even discuss the decedent’s accounts with you.

Step 3: Inventory the Estate’s Assets and Debts

The most time-consuming early task is building a complete inventory. On the asset side: real estate, bank and investment accounts, vehicles, business interests, and personal property with real value — jewelry, artwork, collectibles, equipment. On the debt side: the mortgage, car loans, credit cards, medical bills, and anything else the person owed at death. Expect to coordinate with the decedent’s bank, financial advisor, accountant, and insurance agent to assemble the full picture, and plan on a formal appraisal for real property — typically $400–$600 for a standard residential appraisal — where value matters for distribution or taxes.

Alabama law requires the personal representative to file an inventory with the court within two months of appointment — unless the will expressly waives it, which well-drafted Alabama wills usually do. Check the will’s language before assuming either way, and calendar the deadline if it applies. This is exactly the kind of trap an Alabama estate planning attorney who handles probate keeps you clear of.

Step 4: Open a Dedicated Estate Bank Account

Before you pay a single bill or deposit a single check for the estate, open an estate bank account (you’ll need an EIN from the IRS for the estate — free and quick to get online). Every dollar in and out of the estate flows through this account: asset sale proceeds, refunds, income earned during administration, and payments to creditors and beneficiaries.

This isn’t bookkeeping preference — it’s the fiduciary duty in action. Commingling estate money with your own is a textbook breach, and it’s the first thing a suspicious beneficiary’s lawyer looks for. A clean estate account with a clean paper trail is the executor’s best defense against any later accusation.

Step 5: Notify Creditors and Pay Valid Claims

After the estate opens, you must give notice to creditors — known creditors get direct notice, and notice is published for unknown ones. Under Alabama Code §43-2-350, creditors then have six months from the grant of Letters to present their claims. Claims filed after the window closes are generally barred, and you don’t pay them. This is also why an Alabama estate essentially can’t close in less than six months: the claim period has to run.

Don’t pay claims as they roll in. Gather them, evaluate them — not every claim presented against an estate is legitimate or enforceable — and pay the valid ones from the estate account in the priority order Alabama law sets, with administration expenses, funeral expenses, and certain taxes ahead of general creditors. If the estate might be insolvent, stop and get legal advice before paying anyone, because paying the wrong creditor first can come out of your own pocket.

Step 6: Handle the Tax Filings

The executor is responsible for the decedent’s final individual income tax return (covering January 1 through the date of death) and, if the estate earns income during administration — interest, dividends, rent, gains on sales — a separate estate income tax return (Form 1041). A federal estate tax return is only required for estates above the federal exemption, which currently sits high enough that the overwhelming majority of Alabama estates owe nothing; Alabama itself has no separate state estate or inheritance tax. Even so, coordinate with an accountant. Tax mistakes in administration follow the executor personally.

Step 7: Distribute the Assets and Close the Estate

With debts paid and taxes handled, you distribute what remains strictly according to the will’s terms, documenting every distribution — get signed receipts from beneficiaries. Disputes over the will’s meaning or the fairness of a distribution get resolved by the probate court, not by the executor picking a side. Distributions to minors or beneficiaries with special needs may need to run through a trust or court-approved custodial arrangement rather than being handed over outright. Once distributions are complete, the estate is settled and closed with the court, and your role ends.

One shortcut worth knowing about: if the estate is small — no real property passing through probate and personal property under Alabama’s inflation-adjusted small-estate threshold — the family may qualify for summary distribution of a small estate, a faster and cheaper process than full administration. It’s worth checking before opening a full estate unnecessarily.

Does the Executor Get Paid?

Yes. Alabama law entitles the personal representative to reasonable compensation for services, generally capped at two and a half percent of the value of estate receipts and two and a half percent of disbursements under Alabama Code §43-2-848, subject to the court’s approval and adjustment for the work actually involved. Many family-member executors waive the fee — especially when they’re also a primary beneficiary, since inheritance isn’t taxable income but executor fees are — but the entitlement is there, and for a complex estate the work can genuinely earn it.

Common Questions from Alabama Executors

How long does probate take in Alabama? Most estates run six months to a year, with the six-month creditor claim period as the floor. Estates with real estate sales, disputes, or tax complexity take longer.

Do I have to serve if I’m named executor? No. Being named in the will is a nomination, not an obligation. You can decline, and the court will appoint the alternate or another qualified person.

Can the executor also be a beneficiary? Yes, and it’s extremely common — a spouse or adult child usually fills both roles. The fiduciary duty still applies to every decision.

Do I need a lawyer to probate an estate in Alabama? Not legally, but the deadlines, creditor rules, and liability exposure make counsel strongly advisable — and attorney fees are paid from the estate, not from your pocket.

What if there’s no will? The court appoints an administrator, and the estate passes to heirs under Alabama’s intestacy statutes. The administration steps are largely the same, with a few added requirements like bond.

Get Help Fulfilling Your Duties as Executor

Serving as an executor done right is a service to your family; done wrong, it’s a source of liability and conflict. Professional guidance keeps you on schedule, off the liability hooks, and out of fights with beneficiaries — and because the fees come from the estate itself, it’s accessible even for modest estates. The Alabama probate attorneys at The Harris Firm LLC guide executors and families through the full process, from opening the estate through final distribution, with offices in Birmingham, Chelsea, Huntsville, and Montgomery. Phone consultations on probate matters are free — call us at (205) 201-1789, and if your loved one’s estate planning still needs attention, our Alabama will attorneys can help with that too.

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