Effective 5 November 2026.
General information only
Everything on Executor Handbook (executorhandbook.com) is general information, published to help readers understand how estates work in the US. It is not legal or tax advice, and it does not take your family, the will, the estate or your state’s court into account. Your court, a lawyer or a tax professional decides what applies to your estate.
Not a law firm
Executor Handbook is not a law firm and does not practice law. Reading this site, using a calculator or emailing us does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing you send us is protected the way a conversation with your own lawyer would be. Please don’t send us confidential information.
Not tax advice
Tax pages and calculators describe rules and give estimates. They are not tax advice and they do not prepare a return. Federal figures carry their year, and a state’s estate or inheritance tax can apply where no federal tax is due. Ask the IRS, your state’s tax agency or a tax professional about your own return.
State differences
Estate law is mostly state law, and the differences are large. A limit, deadline, fee or form in one state may not exist in another. Counties and courts can also have their own practices and fees. The state of the person’s home usually matters, and property in another state can bring in that state’s law as well. Some topics have no national rule at all, including when a will must be filed, when beneficiaries must be paid and when an estate must close. Where a page gives a state’s rule, it applies to that state only.
The law changes
Laws, court forms, tax figures and fees change, and several small estate limits have moved recently. A limit can depend on the date of death, so an old figure may still apply to one estate and a new one to another. Each state figure on this site shows when we read it, and the law may have changed since. A bill is not law until it is enacted, and we can’t watch every state’s bills. Check the current rule with the court before you rely on it.
What we could not confirm
Some state rules could not be read in the statute. Those appear as “not confirmed”, and you should ask the court. Some figures were read in a dated archived copy of the state’s own page, and pages say so. Our how we check page explains what each label means.
Deadlines and disputes
Estates have deadlines that can’t always be recovered once missed, for creditors, will contests and tax returns among them. Don’t rely on this site to work out a deadline in your case. Talk to a lawyer when a deadline is running, a will is disputed, you suspect fraud, the estate may not cover its debts, the estate holds a business, or heirs are in conflict.
Your own responsibilities
An executor or administrator has legal duties to the court, to beneficiaries and to creditors, and can be personally responsible for some mistakes. Our pages describe those duties in general terms. They do not protect you from them, and following a page here is no defense if something goes wrong in your case.
No verdicts
Our pages explain rules and the questions to ask. They don’t say what you should do, what you are owed, whether you would win, or whether to bring a case.
Estimates and calculators
Every cost, fee and tax figure a calculator gives is an estimate, based on what you enter and on the figures and assumptions it shows. It is not a quote, a bill, a court’s decision, a tax calculation you can file, or a statement of what anyone is owed. A will, a judge or a state rule can change the answer. Published cost estimates we cite are the claims of those who published them, as our how we check page explains. Calculators print numbers only, so read the notes on the page around them.
Forms
We host no forms. We link to the court or state that issues them, and we can’t promise that a linked form is the version your court wants today. Ask the clerk.
Accuracy
Pages are checked against the sources they cite, but no check catches everything. Check important details with the original source before you rely on them.
How our content is made
Every page is fact-checked against its sources before it is published. Pages appear under the Executor Handbook name. Our editorial policy explains the process.
Advertising and independence
Executor Handbook is funded by display advertising. Advertisers have no say over what we publish, and an ad on a page is not an endorsement. That includes any ad from a law firm or lender. We use no affiliate links, accept no paid placements, sell no leads and make no lawyer referrals. Names of companies, publishers, courts and agencies are used only to identify them, and we are not affiliated with them.
External links
We link to sources and other websites so you can check what we say. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content.
Questions and corrections
If you think something is wrong, email contact@executorhandbook.com with the page address and a source, and we will look at it. See also our corrections page and terms of use.