There’s so much to take care of when a loved one passes away. In addition to coping with difficult emotions, there are also many important administrative tasks you have to handle, like reaching out to family members, making funeral arrangements, and settling your loved one’s estate. This includes transferring property and other assets to their heirs. If your loved one had a last will and testament, this makes the process of settling their estate simpler.

A last will and testament, or will, is a legal document that lets a person decide what should happen to their estate after they die. In their will, they can also nominate an executor. If you’ve been named executor in your loved one’s will, this means they’ve chosen you to oversee their estate and carry out their final wishes.

But settling their affairs isn’t as simple as reading their will and following its instructions. Their estate must often go through probate, which is the court-supervised legal process of settling an estate. This includes taking an inventory of your loved one’s assets, paying their outstanding debts, and distributing their assets according to their will.