Articles
The executor’s job, explained like a human
Free, plain-English answers to the late-night searches — legal information, never legal advice, and never ending in scare copy or a sales pitch for skipping the professionals.
What Does an Executor Actually Do First? (Almost Nothing Is Due This Week)
The calm answer to the 2 a.m. search: the one-page genuinely-urgent list, and why nearly every real executor mistake is a speed mistake.
Executor Personal Liability, Explained Calmly (It's Real — and Preventable)
The scare ads are selling something. The honest version: liability traces to a short, avoidable list — and every item is a process failure, not a knowledge failure.
Can an Executor Be Paid? (Yes — Here's How It Actually Works)
It exists, it's legitimate, and it's awkward. The education: state methods, the tax asymmetry that makes some family executors waive it, and the transparency rule.
Notifying Social Security and government benefits of a death
The funeral home often starts this, but you'll need to finish it—and some benefits need your attention within weeks.
What to do with a house after someone dies
The house is still standing. Here's how to think about what comes next.
Can an executor pay estate bills from personal money?
You can pay estate bills from your own pocket—but only if you follow the reimbursement rules.
How to prove you're not deceased to Equifax
A credit bureau's error can freeze your life—here's how to fix it.
Can an executor access bank accounts before probate?
Banks don't always wait for probate court—but they don't move without proof either.
Executor duties timeline: month-by-month checklist
You have months to settle an estate, not days—here's what actually needs doing when.
Executor vs. power of attorney: what changes at death
The person managing their affairs yesterday has no legal authority tomorrow—and the executor isn't official yet.
What happens to online accounts when someone dies
Digital accounts don't vanish when someone dies—they sit in limbo unless you know the right steps.
What assets skip probate and why titling matters
The will doesn't control everything: some assets have their own succession plan built in.
How to notify credit bureaus of a death
You've likely already seen the funeral home's folder of tasks. Somewhere in the paperwork chaos, you know you need to close accounts, settle debts, and protect the person who died from identity theft.
How many death certificates do I need when someone dies?
"You'll need about ten" is usually the first piece of executor advice anyone receives — delivered across a funeral-home desk, with no explanation attached. Here's the explanation.
Do family members inherit a parent's debt?
The inheritance you're not getting is often the one you're most afraid of.
What is an estate EIN and why it's free
The estate files taxes as its own entity. You can get the ID in minutes, free, without a middleman.
Getting a deceased person's credit report from Equifax
You need to see what the credit bureaus know — here's how to ask Equifax.
How long does probate take
Probate has no fixed deadline—and that's actually the honest part of the answer.
Small estate affidavit explained
A faster path exists for modest estates—if your state offers it and your situation fits.
Want the whole map, in order?
The Executor’s Compass connects everything on this page into one first-90-days system — with the Estate Binder, the Notifications Tracker, and the Professional Visit Playbook.