E323 Top 5 Reasons They a Hire Professional Executor

When we chat with new clients, we ask them why they chose to look for and hire a professional executor. Here are the 5 most common answers. Perhaps you will see yourself in one of these situations.

1.  There’s no one else

There may not be any close family or friends due to old age or because the client is a Solo Ager. Or maybe a client does have close family and friends, but they do not live nearby, they have no time, or they are not financially savvy.

2. Went through being an executor and hated it

We have clients who served as executors and hated it. Because they hated being an executor, there is no way they want to burden a loved one with the task.

It could be the other way around: the friend or family member who they want to nominate was already an executor once and hated it, too.

3. Fees are the same, so you may as well get a professional

Once clients realize that the executor fee is exactly the same for a professional executor versus a family member or friend, they can’t believe it! In most states, the law is the same. Whether it’s your unemployed nephew who needs money to start a rock band versus a seasoned professional with an experienced staff versus a bank: If you have that choice and the fees are going to be the same, why wouldn’t you name a professional executor?

In fact, hiring a professional executor may even cost less. An experienced and professional staff can reduce costs due to economies of scale, better deals with vendors, etc. We minimize a lot of losses because we can often do things quicker.

4. Banks won’t take the client or charge fees or require certain investments

Many come to us after being rejected by their bank/brokerage, even if they have plenty of money and have been loyal customers for years.

Or sometimes, they are in the process of getting the bank to agree to serve as executor. But there are so many layers of committees and approvals from the bank. Those people come to us because we provide a more personal experience. With a bank, you’ll never talk to the person who will be the executor; it’s just “the bank.”

Lastly, people don’t like the bank’s requirement that a certain amount of money must be invested with them to qualify. You probably need between $3 million and $5 million just to talk to the bank. The bank also requires very specific investments: your money has to be invested in Brokerage Account “A” and the underlying investments must be in the Brokerage’s created funds. To put it bluntly, this is how banks can charge more fees.

5. Age gap siblings

This is similar to our #1 reason above, but more often we are seeing age gap siblings. Since we’ve been seeing this specific situation more often, we thought it was worth mentioning as its own reason. For whatever family reason, we’re seeing clients whose next closest sibling is 25 years older or younger! They don’t have a tight relationship due to the large age gap.

On the other hand, we have clients whose siblings are almost the same age, which doesn’t give an elderly client much hope that a fellow elderly sibling will be able to fulfill the duties of an executor. You want someone who will survive you or be young enough to handle stressful situations.

These are all great reasons to check out my book, “How to Hire an Executor,” available on Amazon. If you are part of our monthly email list, we give away one free paperback copy a month!

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