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After all, it is an honor that this person trusts you enough to feel comfortable with charging you with such an important responsibility.
On the other hand, being an executor can be quite a bit of work and sometimes - just sometimes - it can be a nightmare.
And do you really want to take that chance? Fortunately there are some things you can do to determine how "involved" your executor duties might be.
Here's a few tips to get you started: Before you say yes, ask to see a copy of the Will or Trust and then read it.
You're going to be in charge of the estate so you need to know exactly what that entails.
Is there out-of-state property? Trusts that will need to be set up? Debts to be settled? Is the Will a detailed and comprehensive document or does it look like something your friend downloaded off the Internet? Do they have an estate planning attorney? If the answer is yes, you can breathe a small sigh of relief - chances are, the estate planning attorney will do most of the work for you.
Of course, you'll want to be sure so ask to schedule a meeting with the attorney and see what he or she thinks about the estate as a whole.
Are there some sticky issues that you might not want to be part of? If someone is being left out of the Will for example, the aftermath might not be pretty.
Is there some questionable distribution of property? Is your friend ignoring the children and leaving the bulk of the estate to the family dog, for example? These are good signs that you might be in for much more than you bargained.
Does your friend have all their ducks in a row? Have they gathered their important papers or is the estate in a big state of disarray? Organization is a good sign that your friend is on top of things and the more organized the estate, the less likely you are to have problems.
That's not a guarantee of course, just a guideline.
To learn more about being an executor or to plan your own estate, you should consult with a qualified estate planning attorney.
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