Executor Checklist: Estate Log

ExecutorDesk is an organiser for the person looking after a loved one's estate. The steps, the money, the assets and debts, the people and the papers, kept together on your phone for the months it takes.

WHAT IT DOES

A checklist in six stages
First days, telling people, valuing the estate, authority to act, collecting and paying, and distributing and closing. It starts with the steps many executors take in the United States or in England and Wales, with a link to the official page where there is one. Tick steps off, add your own, hide the ones that do not apply, note who is handling each one, and give a step a date if you want a reminder. The app never sets a date for you.

A ledger with receipts
Record every amount in and out of the estate with the date, who paid or was paid, and a photo of the receipt. Mark anything you paid yourself and the Owed to you card keeps the running figure until the estate pays you back. Record what each beneficiary receives.

The estate at a glance
List the assets with their value and where it came from, the debts and where each is up to, and see the total. Mark an asset as held jointly or with a named beneficiary and it is kept out of the estate total; ask your adviser how it is treated.

People and papers
The solicitor or attorney, each bank, the pension provider, the beneficiaries. For each organisation, see whether you have told them, sent the papers, or finished. Log each call and letter with the date and any reference. Keep the will, the death certificates and letters as photos or PDFs, and count how many certified copies you still have.

The accounts
Create a PDF record with the summary, every ledger entry with a reference, the inventory and a receipts appendix, to share with the beneficiaries or your adviser. Export the ledger and the inventory as CSV files for your accountant.

Reminders
Only for dates you choose, calls and letters to follow up, papers you are still waiting for, and money owed back to you. Reminders never name anyone.

Your records
Everything is stored on your phone. There is no account and nothing you type is uploaded. Crash reports and anonymous analytics do leave the device. The app can be locked behind your phone's PIN, pattern or fingerprint, and screenshots are blocked while it is open. The backup is one file with every record and receipt, encrypted with a passphrase you choose.

WHO IT'S FOR

Anyone who has been named executor in a will, or appointed to deal with an estate where there is no will, and wants one calm place to keep track. It is not legal or tax advice, it does not file anything with a court or tax office, and it does not value anything. The checklist lists steps many executors take; your solicitor, attorney or accountant knows your situation better, and their advice comes first.

Questions or suggestions: [email protected]