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# What does it mean to be executor of a will?
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/what-does-it-mean-to-be-executor-of-a-will-2/
- Published: 2003-05-05T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:01:00.000Z
- Author: David Pisarra
- Tags: Opinion, Santa Monica, #archive-import

The executor of a will gathers all the assets owned by the decedent and, depending on whether or not a probate is being opened, they are to distribute the property according to the terms of the will.

Not all wills have to be probated. For estates under $100,000, according to California Probate Code, if 40 days have passed since the death, and upon the presentation of an affidavit in proper form, an executor may administer an estate without the court’s intervention. The savings to the estate can be tremendous, filing fees, attorney’s fees and publication fees for a probate can run into thousands of dollars.

Probate is simply the term for the process by which the court takes control of all the property of a decedent and distributes it according to the terms of the will by way of the executor. It is a public process and anyone who wants to know the extent of the decedent’s estate can look at the probate filings.

The executor, or more likely their attorney, opens up probate and throughout the process collects all the outstanding assets, lists the debts, income and property so that he/she can pay the debts, determines who gets what, files the last tax return and distributes the money or property to the various beneficiaries.

This process can take from three months to 20 years, depending on if there are will contests, the amount of the estate and if there were class gifts, which are gifts to an identified group of people who must meet certain criteria.

In order to open a probate, the will must be filed with the court, the application for probate must be filed and letters must be issued which allow the executor to begin to act. Letters are the formal document that let a bank, stock brokerage firm or anyone else know that the person asking for information about assets is acting as an executor.

Once a probate is opened, there will be a hearing regarding the extent of the assets, the terms of will and, if necessary, the court will make orders about the distribution of the property to the beneficiaries.

Unless the will provides otherwise, an executor will be paid according to the Probate Code, which has a sliding scale of percentages based on the size of the estate. The scale starts at 4 percent for an estate up to $100,000, which means that the executor will be paid up to $4,000 for distributing the estate. The next level is 3 percent of the estate up to $200,000, which means the executor makes $7,000, the $4,000 on the first $100,000 and $3,000 on the second $100,000\. This scale continues and only increases so that an estate worth a million dollars would pay approximately $23,000 to the executor and to the attorney for a total of $46,000.

The compensation paid to the executor and the attorneys is in addition to expenses for filing fees, publications, accountants and tax experts.

There are ways to reduce this amount and I will cover those next week. (David Pisarra is a partner in the Santa Monica law firm of Pisarra & Grist. He welcomes questions and 310/664-9969 or e-mailed at)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 5, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050503.pdf?ref=smdp.com)