Estate executor gap: most Canadians willing but not ready
Nearly nine in ten respondents (89%) agreed that being an executor is a complicated and time-consuming responsibility that most people are not equipped to handle. But three-quarters (76%) said they would accept the role for a family member or close friend even without fully understanding what it requires. More than eight in ten (83%) said they would want professional support if the duty landed on them.
“There’s a generous reading of this, which is that people want the person they trust most handling something so deeply personal,” said Davide Pisanu, co-founder and chief executive of ClearEstate. “But there’s also a less generous reading. We know the work can be painful and complicated, and we still ask someone we love to take it on without always doing enough to make their job easier.”
The gap between intention and preparation
The findings carry direct implications for advisors who are working with clients on estate and legacy planning. Among Canadians who have a completed estate plan but have not used a professional executor, 82% have named a family member or friend to the role. Nearly half (44%) of those individuals are unsure how their named executor would actually locate key information – accounts, deeds, passwords – once the time comes.
The workload involved is not trivial. Among the one in five Canadians who have already served as an executor, the median reported time spent was 35 hours. Thirty-nine per cent devoted 50 hours or more, and another 17% lost track entirely. ClearEstate’s own client data shows that even uncontested estate settlements typically span 12 to 18 months.
“People generally understand what it means to be someone’s best man or maid of honour, and what those duties entail,” said Will Daley, senior vice-president of research and analytics at Canada Pulse Insights, who led the study. “With executorship, there aren’t those same baseline expectations. People feel honoured or obligated to say yes but may have no clear idea what the job will actually involve.”
