Greater St. Louis
Named executor and living out of town? Here's the first week.
The first fear most out-of-town executors have isn't the paperwork — it's the house. Who's watching it? Is it secure? What actually needs to happen this week, versus what can wait?
This is a practical first-week checklist for securing a Greater St. Louis estate property while probate gets underway — before any cleanout decision needs to be made.
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What to do in the first 7 days
- Confirm you have (or have filed for) Letters Testamentary — until the court issues them, you have no legal authority to act on the estate's behalf, even as the named executor.
- Secure the house — change or re-key the locks if other family members or a caretaker had keys, confirm homeowners insurance is still active, and stop mail/newspaper delivery so the house doesn't visibly sit empty.
- Arrange for someone local to check on the property regularly if you're not local yourself — an empty house is a target, and insurers sometimes have vacancy clauses that matter here.
- Locate the will, any trust documents, and financial paperwork before anything else is touched — sorting the house can wait a few days; losing track of estate paperwork cannot be undone.
- Do not distribute, sell, or discard anything of value yet — even with good intentions, moving estate property before probate is underway can create real legal exposure for the executor.
None of this requires you to be in St. Louis in person. Most out-of-state executors handle the first week by phone and email — confirming legal authority, lining up someone local to check the property, and holding off on cleanout until a plan is set. The house sitting unattended for a few weeks while probate opens is normal and manageable; the goal of this checklist is simply making sure it's secure and insured while that happens.
Once probate is underway and you know the timeline you're working with, the next planning step is knowing what has to happen to the property before it can be listed or transferred — our free probate property prep timeline walks through Missouri and Illinois probate steps side by side with the property milestones that line up with each one.
Questions we get from out-of-town executors
I live out of state. Who watches the house while I'm not there?
Most families lean on a nearby relative, a trusted neighbor, or a property-check service for the first few weeks, and hold off on any cleanout work until Letters Testamentary are in hand and a plan is set. Heritage matches families with vetted local providers who can move quickly once you're ready — you're not on the clock to start day one.
Do I need to start clearing out the house right away?
No. The first week is about securing the property and confirming your legal authority to act, not sorting belongings. Cleanout timing depends on the probate schedule and the family's wishes — there's no requirement to rush it.
What if a sibling or other family member wants access to the house before probate is settled?
This is common and worth handling directly and early. As executor, you're responsible for preserving estate property until probate resolves — it's reasonable to ask that nothing be removed until there's a documented plan everyone has agreed to.
Keep reading
Estate Cleanout Services
How estate cleanout matching works once the house is ready to be sorted.
Executor in Clayton, MO?
The same first-week checklist, with St. Louis County probate specifics for Clayton-area families.
Probate Property Prep Timeline
Free printable guide to Missouri and Illinois probate steps and property milestones.
Once you're ready to sort the house, we'll take it from there.
One short form connects you with a vetted local provider. Free to families — usually the same day.
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