Being named executor of an estate is a responsibility that arrives at an emotionally difficult time, often with little instruction. When the estate includes real property, the first thirty days set the tone for everything that follows. You do not need to solve the whole estate in a month, but a handful of property steps taken early will save enormous stress later. Here is a practical checklist.
Week One: Secure and Assess
Start by securing the property. Make sure the home is locked, insured, and maintained. Confirm that homeowners insurance remains in force, because a vacant inherited property can create coverage gaps, and notify the insurer of the change in occupancy. Locate the key documents: the deed, the mortgage statement if any, recent tax bills, and any records of improvements. These will matter for both the appraisal and the eventual accounting.
Weeks Two and Three: Understand the Obligations
Get clear on the timeline. The estate tax return, where required, is generally due nine months after the date of death, and the property valuation is the longest-lead item on that filing. How quickly that clock runs is detailed in the nine-month estate tax filing deadline and how it sneaks up on executors who waited. Consult the estate's attorney to confirm what the estate must file and when. Do not let the quiet early weeks lull you; the deadlines are real and the calendar moves faster than it feels.
By Day Thirty: Commission the Date-of-Death Appraisal
This is the single most important property step, and the one most executors delay. A certified date-of-death appraisal establishes the fair market value of the real property as of the date of death. What that document is and why it is required is explained in what an estate appraisal is and why it is required after someone passes away. It sets the tax basis for the heirs, supports the estate tax return, grounds any conversation about selling or dividing the home, and protects you, the executor, from signing documents supported by a guess.
Commissioning it early is a gift to your future self. The appraisal does not require the heirs to gather or agree; it requires property access and a qualified appraiser. That is exactly why a scattered summer family need not stall the estate; the vacation-season estate and why out-of-state heirs slow down Massachusetts settlements explains how to keep the file moving. Ordering it in the first thirty days means the estate's most important number is finished and waiting when every downstream decision needs it.
What Not to Rush
You do not need to sell the home in the first month, distribute anything, or make permanent decisions under pressure. Early haste on those fronts causes as many problems as delay does. The first thirty days are for securing, understanding, and documenting, so that the decisions that follow rest on facts rather than urgency.
An executor who spends the first month on these steps walks into the rest of the administration organized, protected, and ahead of the deadlines. That is the whole goal of the first thirty days.
If you are an executor or attorney managing a Greater Boston estate with real property, our estate planning and date-of-death appraisal service delivers the USPAP-compliant documentation you need before any estate filing or property decision.
