The terms “Personal Representative” and “Executor” mean the same thing. This is an individual or corporate entity that you appoint to be in charge of going to court, opening a probate (a mini lawsuit), and submitting your Will to a judge after you pass away.
If
you have a Trust, you also have something called a “Pour-Over Will” which is a
document that states that any assets left outside of your Trust, were meant to
go to your Trust, and therefore should be transferred to your Trust.
Here
is an example of why you need a Personal Representative: You set up your Trust
today, and transfer all of your assets into it. Then ten years down the road,
you completely forget you have a Trust and purchase a home in your personal
name. You then pass away with that home in your personal name. The home would
be a “probate asset.” This means that your Personal Representative/Executor
would need to likely hire an attorney to open a probate with the court and get
that asset transferred over to your Trust.
We
hope a Personal Representative will never be called on to act because all of
your assets would either be titled in the name of your Trust or have a
beneficiary designation on them prior to your passing. However, we know that
life happens, so we ask you to appoint a Personal Representative - just in
case.