By Kevin Luu, Co-Founder and Chief Learning Officer. Reviewed on 2026-09-30.
Yes, your financial advisor can be your executor. In both California and Washington, any competent adult you name in your will can serve, and a professional title does not disqualify anyone. The real questions are whether your advisor is allowed to accept by their own firm, and whether you want the person who manages the money to also be the person who decides what happens to it.
For a two-income household earning $600,000 to $1.2 million with RSUs, a house and young kids, the answer is usually a different structure: a trusted family member or trust company as executor and successor trustee, with the advisor as the person they call on day one. Here is how the law works, what executors are paid, and how to choose.
Who can legally serve as executor in California and Washington
California Probate Code section 8402 lists who cannot serve as personal representative (the legal term for an executor): a minor, a person under a conservatorship of the estate or otherwise unfit, someone with grounds for removal, a non-US resident, or a surviving business partner if an interested person objects. The last two limits do not apply to someone you name in the will. A financial advisor fits none of these categories.
Washington’s rule, RCW 11.36.010, bars minors, people of unsound mind, people convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, people whose appointment was revoked for cause in the last 24 months, and people found by a court or agency in the last 36 months to have engaged in dishonesty, theft or breach of fiduciary duty. It also bars most corporations and LLCs, with exceptions for trust companies, national banks, qualifying nonprofits and firms owned only by attorneys. So in Washington you name the individual advisor, not their advisory firm, unless the firm is a trust company or national bank. A nonresident can serve in Washington after appointing an agent to receive court papers who lives in the county where the estate is probated, or who is the estate’s attorney of record.
Why many advisors will say no, or need written approval
The legal answer and the practical answer differ. If your advisor is a registered representative of a broker-dealer, FINRA Rule 3241 says they must decline to act as executor, trustee or holder of a power of attorney for a customer unless they first notify their firm in writing and get its written approval. The rule does not apply when the customer is immediate family. Many firms say no as a matter of policy, because an advisor who controls an estate can also direct its assets, including to their own management.
Ask the question early. A will that names someone who later cannot serve sends the choice to your backup, or to a court.
The conflict to think through before you name your advisor
An executor decides which professionals the estate keeps. If your advisor is executor, they decide whether to keep themselves. They can also collect an executor fee on top of an ongoing advisory fee on the same assets. None of this is improper by default, but it removes a check. When a spouse or sibling is executor and the advisor serves them, someone independent is watching the person managing the money.
There is also a time problem. Settling an estate means months of paperwork, court filings in a probate case, tax returns and calls with beneficiaries. Your advisor works for dozens of families. Your sister works for yours.
What your executor actually handles in a family like yours
For most of our readers, much of the net worth never passes through the will at all:
- 401(k)s, IRAs and life insurance go to the named beneficiaries. The executor does not control them, which is why beneficiary designations matter as much as the will.
- Assets titled in a revocable living trust are handled by the successor trustee, not the executor. In California many families with a home use a trust for this reason.
- Vested RSU shares in a brokerage account without a beneficiary or trust title go through the estate. Unvested RSUs follow your company’s plan terms, which the executor has to read and act on.
- Guardians for minor children are named in the will, separately from the executor. This is often the most important line in the document for parents of kids under 12.
The executor also files the final income tax returns and, when one spouse dies, can file Form 706 to pass the unused federal exclusion to the surviving spouse (portability). The election is made on a timely estate tax return, due nine months after death. Under Rev. Proc. 2022-32, an estate not otherwise required to file can make a late election up to the fifth anniversary of the death. For 2026 the federal basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person, so few of our families owe federal estate tax. Washington is different: its estate tax exclusion is $3,000,000 for deaths from July 1 to December 31, 2026 ($3,076,000 for deaths in the first half of the year), per the Department of Revenue. A Seattle family with a $5 million estate is well above it.
Worked example: what probate costs a California family without a trust
Assume a Palo Alto couple, household income $950,000, two kids aged 4 and 7. Assets: a home appraised at $3,000,000 with a $1,400,000 mortgage, a joint brokerage account of $1,200,000, vested RSU shares of $800,000, and $1,100,000 in 401(k)s with named beneficiaries. They have wills but no trust, all of these assets are community property, and both die in the same accident.
The 401(k)s pass outside probate. The probate assets total $5,000,000 (home, brokerage and RSU shares). Because no one can show that either spouse survived the other, California Probate Code section 103 treats half of the community property as passing through each spouse’s estate. That means two probate estates of $2,500,000 each. The mortgage is not subtracted: California computes the fee on the appraised value of the inventory, without deducting encumbrances.
California sets the executor’s fee for ordinary services by statute (Probate Code 10800): 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% of the next $15,000,000. The estate’s attorney is paid on the same schedule (section 10810).
| Probate estate (gross) | Executor fee | Attorney fee | Total statutory fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| $2,000,000 | $33,000 | $33,000 | $66,000 |
| $2,500,000 | $38,000 | $38,000 | $76,000 |
| $5,000,000 | $63,000 | $63,000 | $126,000 |
| $8,000,000 | $93,000 | $93,000 | $186,000 |
For each $2,500,000 estate the math is $4,000 + $3,000 + $16,000 + $15,000 = $38,000 to the executor and the same to the attorney. Across the two estates that is $76,000 to the executor and $76,000 to the attorney, $152,000 in total. Splitting the assets into two estates costs more than one $5,000,000 estate would ($126,000), because each estate starts again at the higher percentages. If the advisor is executor of both estates, that $76,000 is theirs unless they waive it, on top of any advisory fee. The larger point for this family: titling the home, brokerage and RSU account in a revocable trust keeps these assets out of probate and out of this schedule. Washington has no fee schedule. A will can set the executor’s pay, and otherwise the court allows what it finds just and reasonable (RCW 11.48.210).
Three setups that work, and when each fits
| Setup | Fits when | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse, then a sibling or close friend as executor and successor trustee; advisor supports them | You have a responsible adult who is organized and trusted by both sides of the family | Give them a written map of accounts and professionals |
| Family member and advisor as co-executors | The estate has concentrated stock, private holdings or a business, and your relative wants expert help with authority | Firm approval under FINRA 3241; say in the will how disagreements are resolved |
| Trust company or bank as executor or trustee | No suitable relative, blended-family tension, or trusts that last until the kids are 25 or 30 | Published fee schedules; ask how they handle an RSU-heavy portfolio |
If you still want your advisor named, do four things: ask them directly and get their firm’s written approval; have an estate attorney licensed in your state draft the will; name at least one successor executor; and put the compensation terms in writing so your family is not surprised later.
What to document for your kids
Choosing an executor is a decision your children will live with but never see you make. Write a one-page memo for the estate file: who you chose, who you passed over and why, which professionals to keep, and how you want the RSU concentration handled. Store it with your estate plan and review it when you review the will.
As Kevin Luu puts it: “Your kids will inherit your money. Will they inherit your judgment?” A named executor settles the estate. A written record of your reasoning is what lets your kids understand it. This is the kind of record the FamilyKnowledge® System inside the Age Five Family Office™ is built to keep.
Frequently asked questions
Can my financial advisor be my power of attorney?
Generally yes, as a legal matter. But FINRA Rule 3241 treats holding a customer’s power of attorney the same way as serving as executor: a registered representative needs written approval from their firm first, unless you are immediate family. Many firms decline. A common setup is a spouse or relative as agent, with the advisor providing information and account support to that agent.
Can a financial advisor write my will?
No. A will is a legal document, and an advisor who is not a licensed attorney cannot draft it or give legal advice. Advisors can help you prepare: list assets, check beneficiary designations and titling, and model how an estate divides. Have an estate attorney in California or Washington draft the will and any trust. See our questions to ask an estate attorney.
Can a beneficiary also be the executor and trustee?
Yes. Naming a spouse or adult child who also inherits is the most common arrangement in both states, and nothing in California’s or Washington’s qualification rules forbids it. The risk is perceived favoritism among siblings. Clear written instructions, regular accountings and, for a long-running trust, an independent co-trustee can reduce that friction. Our guide to a fiduciary’s duties explains the standard they are held to.
Your next step
Pull out your current will and trust, find the executor, successor trustee and guardian lines, and confirm each person is still willing and able. If your advisor is named, ask whether their firm allows it. If you would like help mapping how your RSUs, retirement accounts and property actually pass, the Tax & Wealth Assessment is a place to start.
This is general education, and the right move depends on your family’s full picture and your attorney’s advice.
Kevin has advised high-income W-2 tech and biotech families since 2015, and leads the education-first Age Five Family Office from Brea, California.
Connect on LinkedIn → · About KevinThis is part of how we approach Estate Planning for high-income W-2 families at Bright Advisers.
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