What is the difference between a Trustee and an Executor?

A Trustee and an Executor are distinct roles but with a similar function.

While you’re alive, you can give money away by writing a check, transferring through Zelle, Venmo, a wire transfer, or simply handing over cash. If you own a car you can sign the title, and if you own property you can use a deed. When you’re gone, you can’t do that anymore.

So probate is a court-supervised process to transfer assets from someone who is gone to someone who is alive. If there’s a Will, the court will appoint an Executor, whose job it is to gather all of the decedent’s assets, pay any legitimate debts and expenses, and then distribute the rest according to the instructions in the Will. If there’s no Will, the court instead appoints an Administrator, who does the same, but distributes assets according to State law.

The Executor (or Administrator) has no control over who receives what share, but has some discretion to ensure everything happens in an orderly fashion. For example, the Executor may sell assets and split the proceeds, or the executor can distribute assets to the beneficiaries, so long as the total value going to each heir is correct.

If assets are held in a trust, there’s nothing in your own name, and there’s no need to involve the court – the trust has instructions as to what will happen to the assets, and the Trustee’s job is to make it happen,

Just as the Executor’s job is to take the necessary actions to fulfil someone’s Will, a Trustee’s job is to take the necessary actions to fulfil the terms of the Trust. The Trustee has no more control than the Trust gives them, but a Trust can grant a Trustee more powers than a Will, such as letting the Trustee decide the timing of distributions.

As the functions of a Trustee and an Executor are very similar, most people name the same person to be Executor and Trustee.