I say it at least a dozen times every week:
Being an executor is not an honour — it’s a job.
A legal job.
And legal jobs have legal consequences.
The law doesn’t care why you agreed to do it. It doesn’t care that you were grieving, or that you were the oldest child, or that you were trying your best. If you take on executor duties, you are taking on legal responsibilities — and you will be held to a legal standard.
That’s where so many families get caught off guard.
Most people accept the role because they feel they should. Because Mom asked. Because it feels like the “right thing.” Because they assume they’ll figure it out.
But executor work isn’t symbolic. It’s administrative, financial, and often emotionally brutal.
There’s a reason executors get paid.
Some professionals call it “danger pay” for a reason.
A Recent Ontario Court Reminder (2025)
A 2025 Ontario Court of Appeal decision is a clear reminder of just how serious this role can become.
In MacBeth Estate v. MacBeth, the court upheld the removal of two estate trustees and ordered them to personally pay $21,000 in legal costs after finding their actions were not in the best interests of the estate or its beneficiary.
As reported by Canadian Lawyer, the trustees sold a family cottage without properly advising the sole beneficiary, created avoidable tax consequences, and allowed the relationship and administration to deteriorate to the point where trust was lost entirely.
The court emphasized that removing an executor is a high bar — something judges do only when estate administration has broken down beyond repair.
By the time a court steps in, the problem is never new.
It’s the final chapter of a much longer story.
What Happens Before Court Ever Gets Involved
Court cases don’t start with lawsuits. They start with silence.
Executors are often stuck in the middle of:
- grief
- family tension
- competing expectations
- unclear instructions
- resentment that builds slowly over time
The emotional labour of being “the responsible one” is enormous — and deeply underestimated.
Most executors don’t fail because they are malicious.
They fail because the job is harder than anyone admits.
The Assumptions That Set Executors Up to Fail
Families tend to appoint executors based on assumptions like:
- “They’re organized.”
- “They’ll figure it out.”
- “It’s an honour.”
But love is not training.
And closeness is not qualification.
Naming someone without preparing them is like handing them a legal burden and hoping goodwill will carry it.
It won’t.
Why Executor Conflict Hurts Everyone
When executor conflict happens, the damage spreads quickly:
Estates stall. Costs rise. Distributions are delayed.
Family relationships fracture — sometimes permanently.
Executors carry guilt and stress long after the estate is settled… if it ever is.
And beneficiaries can spend years feeling like the person meant to protect the estate became the person standing in the way.
The Brown Lawyers’ Perspective
At Brown Lawyers, we believe executor planning is not about convenience.
It’s about care.
The courts remove executors when families are already hurting — when trust has been lost, communication has failed, and the estate has suffered real harm.
Proactive planning can prevent that outcome.
The right executor choice matters.
So does support.
So does structure.
And sometimes, the best gift you can leave your family is not naming the “obvious” person — but naming the right one, and preparing them properly.
A Final Thought
Being an executor is a legal job, with legal consequences, at a time of emotional trauma.
It is not an honour.
It is a responsibility.
And it deserves far more thought than most families give it.
Courts step in when things fall apart. Our work is about making sure they don’t have to.
If you’re creating or updating your estate plan, talk to Brown Lawyers about executor planning that protects the people you care about most — and ensures no one is left holding a weight they were never prepared to carry.
