EstateExec FAQ

What is EstateExec?

EstateExec is online software that helps estate executors fulfill their duties, providing province-specific guidance and easy financial accounting. You can think of EstateExec as something like Quicken^®, but optimized for the estate settlement process. It customizes guidance to the particulars of your estate, helps you manage financials, generates standardized reports, and even calculates executor compensation. [See more at EstateExec Introduction...]

Why should I use EstateExec?

EstateExec makes the executor process easy, from understanding your responsibilities to tracking debt payments and asset distributions. It also includes discount coupons for related third-party services. EstateExec will save you time, money, and possibly your family relationships. You could do things the old-fashioned way, but why would you? [See more at Why Use EstateExec...]

I already have a lawyer; do I still need EstateExec?

Yes! Hiring a lawyer to settle an estate is like hiring an accountant to do your taxes: you still have to do a lot of work yourself. EstateExec will make it easier to organize estate assets and debts, track your expenses, manage distributions, and even coordinate with your lawyer. [See more at Working with Others...]

Does EstateExes support my province?

Yes. EstateExec automatically customizes itself for whichever Canadian province or territory you select for the estate. EstateExec also supports every US state and territory: to switch to the US version, select the US flag in the top right of the page (or just go to www.EstateExec.com). [See more at Create Estate...]

How much does EstateExec cost?

You can use EstateExec for free for 10 days, so you can see for yourself how helpful it is. No credit card, email, or registration is required to use the free trial. After that, it costs only CA$199 per estate (one payment), which you can deduct as an estate expense. You can also optionally download transactions from your bank for CA$19.99/year (first year included free in your estate license).

When you think about the thousands of dollars you will likely spend on legal services, it's a real bargain. Plus, its money-saving coupons for third-party services (e.g., shipping, appraisals, junk hauling, etc.) will more than pay for itself. You can't afford not to use EstateExec! [See more at License Estate...]

How many awards has EstateExec won?

It's getting hard to keep track!  Recent awards include Best Executor Software at the Software and Technology Awards, Web Application of the Year at the Globee Business Excellence Awards, and an Edison Award for Innovative Software.  EstateExec is rated 4.9 stars on TrustPilot reviews. [See more at About EstateExec...]

I'm not called an "executor", but I have responsibility for an estate or trust. Will EstateExec still help me?

Some provinces call the role an "executor", while others call it a "personal representative", "estate trustee", or "liquidator", and if you have been appointed by a court rather than being named in the will, you may be called an "administrator". Don't worry, EstateExec handles the details for every province, and automatically customizes your tasks to reflect province-specific laws and practices. A "trustee" oversees a trust rather than a standard estate, and while there are in fact some differences to this role, these distinctions are quite minor for EstateExec. [See more at What is an Executor...]

What should I do after someone dies?

EstateExec provides an interactive checklist of tasks customized to your situation: see sample estate checklist. [See more at Executor Guide...]

How do I get started?

Just create an estate and start entering information: the EstateExec Getting Started Wizard will help you begin. [See more at Using EstateExec...]

Do I have to enter every transaction by hand?

EstateExec can optionally link to the bank that holds your estate account, and automatically download transactions for you. [See more at Bank Import...]

How long does estate settlement take? How much do executors get paid?

The Executor Guide contains all sorts of interesting statistics about estate settlement. [See more at Executor Timeline...]

Do I need a lawyer?

An executor is not legally required to use a lawyer, but a lawyer can be helpful in many cases. EstateExec can help you find a lawyer if desired, and you can work together with your lawyer (or anyone) using EstateExec's online sharing capability. [See more at Lawyers...]

Does EstateExec make money from the services it recommends?

EstateExec lists relevant third-party services (and in some cases money-saving discounts) simply to be helpful to our customers. EstateExec does not recommend or endorse any third party services, and receives no compensation from these services (with the obvious exception of legal services).

What is the "Unspoken Rite of Financial Passage"?

Certain events in a person's life qualify as "financial rites of passage": obtaining your first credit card, buying a house, combining finances with a significant other, retirement, estate planning, and so forth. Serving as an executor is another such financial rite of passage, one which few discuss in depth, and for which there are few resources, yet the effort and impact can be profound. [See more at Executor Rite of Passage...]

Can I use EstateExec on different devices?

You can use EstateExec on Windows PCs, Macs, iPads, mobile phones and more. Just open an Internet browser, go to www.EstateExec.com, and login. [See more at User Account Basics...]

Is my data secure?

EstateExec takes security very seriously, and encrypts all transmissions between your browser and our servers, encrypts the data on our servers, and provides additional protections as well. In fact, EstateExec runs on Google Cloud, and is thus protected by Google's world-class physical and software security. We do not sell or rent any of your data to third parties. [See more at Privacy Policy...]

How do I purchase an EstateExec license?

To license an EstateExec estate, create or open the desired estate, then click the "License Now" button on the Overview tab and follow the instructions. If there is no blue License button in the top right, you have already purchased a license for this estate. [See more at License Estate...]

How do I reimburse myself for the EstateExec purchase?

Just write yourself a check from the estate bank account (see First 3 Months), and record the check in the Cashflow tab.

What's the best way to create a printed list of assets (or other data)?

Every table has a menu in its top right corner. Click the menu icon and export to PDF format, which will open a PDF document in a new browser tab, or download the PDF automatically, depending on your browser. You also have the option to create an Inventory Report using the Estate Actions dropdown on the Estate Overview tab. [See more at Print Reports...]

How can I export EstateExec data into another tool, such as Excel?

Every table has a menu in its top right corner. Click the menu icon and export to CSV format, which will download a file to your computer that Excel (and other tools) can read. [See more at Export Data...]

How do I distribute an asset to multiple heirs?

You can make a partial distribution of an asset to an heir. On the Distributions tab, click the Create Distribution button, select the asset you wish to distribute in the top right, select "Asset Percentage" for the Distribution Type, and fill out the percentage of the asset that the given heir should receive. [See more at Manage Distributions...]

My lawyer and I both have the estate open in our browsers; why can't he see changes I am making?

Multiple people (to whom you have given permission) can simultaneously view estate contents. However, changes you make are not saved to the server until you press the "Save All" button, and will not be visible to other people until they refresh their browser window (press F5 on the PC, Cmd-R on the Mac). [See more at Share Access...]

I have an estate open in multiple browser tabs; why don't changes I make in one tab appear in the others?

Changes you make in one browser tab are not saved until you press the "Save All" button, and will not be visible in other browser tabs until you refresh them (press F5 on the PC, Cmd-R on the Mac). In order to avoid inadvertently working with stale data, it is not recommended that you have the same estate open in multiple browser windows or tabs while you are making changes.