Documents Needed to Claim Out Expenses as Executor of a Will

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Leeanne

Member
22 June 2014
1
0
1
I was made the Executor of my late Stepfather's will. At the time of his death, I had no intentions of
being paid for any of the the time or costs involved in dealing with his estate affairs. In the past 5 months since his passing, I have fallen out with my mother and now need to claim all the costs involved. I flew to Perth on 2 occasions and used up nearly 3 weeks of annual leave and sick leave entitlements from work on these 2 trips. Am I able to claim these costs?
 

Tim W

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
28 April 2014
4,913
820
2,894
Sydney
I look for normal receipts and tax invoices, bank and credit card statements,
and other business documents (such as cheque stubs) that reasonably reflect
the costs of executor related duties (you can apportion).
I like pdf Tax Invoices from airlines better than mere boarding passes.
Avoid EFTPOS dockets unless there is no alternative.
(Note that anything printed on thermal paper will fade with time,
and you should act to preserve them now)


You can't claim any of the expenses before the death - because you do not become the executor
until after the person dies.
And try and avoid claiming anything for which you cannot produce a supporting document.

As to being paid from the estate for "time" (such as a wage equivalent, or reimbursing rec leave),
as distinct from "things" you had to buy in the course of execution,
I would only be comfortable recommending that if there was an express term in the will,
or if the estate was very large and/or complex, and consumed you full time for an extended period
(but if that is the case then you should have a lawyer involved).

These links may help