What an executor actually has to do in the first week is something most people have never thought about — until the moment they have to do it.
If you've recently been named executor of an estate in St. Louis, MO, you may be holding a folder of paperwork, a set of house keys, and a very quiet feeling that you don't know where to start. That's normal. Heritage Property Transitions works alongside families in exactly this situation, and the most common thing we hear in those early conversations is some version of: "I didn't realize how much there was to figure out."
This article won't rush you. It's meant to give you a clear picture of what the first week actually looks like, so you can move through it without second-guessing every step.
The Role Before the Work
Before anything gets sorted, donated, or removed, your legal role has to be established. Being named executor in a will doesn't automatically grant you authority to act. You'll need to file the will with the probate court in St. Louis County and receive what's called Letters Testamentary — the document that officially authorizes you to manage the estate.
This filing is your first real task. Without it, banks won't talk to you, utilities can't be transferred, and a property can't be listed or sold. If the estate is relatively straightforward, this step can move quickly, but it's worth calling the probate court early in the week to understand the current timeline. Courts in Missouri have their own pace, and knowing that pace helps you plan everything else around it.
Securing the Property
Once you have access to the home — whether in Clayton, Kirkwood, or a quieter neighborhood in Ladue — your first physical task is making sure the property is secure. This means changing the locks if multiple people had keys, checking that windows close properly, and confirming that utilities are still active. A house without heat in a Missouri winter, or without water service, can develop problems quickly that complicate a future sale.
Walk through the property with a notebook, not a plan. You're not making decisions yet. You're observing. Note anything that looks like it needs immediate attention: a leaking pipe, a broken window, a basement with standing water. You're not there to judge the condition of the home or feel pressure about what comes next. You're there to understand what you're working with.
The Inventory Question
One of the most overlooked parts of what an executor actually has to do in the first week is starting some form of inventory. This doesn't have to be formal or exhaustive on day one, but you do need a working sense of what's in the home. Courts, beneficiaries, and sometimes creditors will eventually need to know what assets existed at the time of death.
Walk room by room. Take photographs. Note anything that appears to have significant value — furniture, artwork, jewelry, collections, vehicles. You don't need to appraise anything yet, but you do need a record that you looked.
In homes across Webster Groves and surrounding communities, we often see families surprised by what they find during this process. Paperwork tucked into drawers. Financial documents in filing cabinets that no one knew existed. Old insurance policies. Safe deposit box keys. These items matter, and finding them early keeps the probate process from stalling later.
What to Do With the Stuff
Here's where most executors feel the most uncertainty: the personal property. The furniture, clothing, kitchen items, tools in the garage, boxes in the basement. Nobody told you what any of this should cost to deal with, or how long it should take, and that silence creates real stress.
A few things worth knowing:
A full estate cleanout for a typical St. Louis-area home — three bedrooms, a basement, and a garage — generally takes a professional crew one to three days depending on volume and condition. That's not a quote, because every home is different, but it gives you a frame of reference so you're not walking in blind.
Donation coordination is often part of a cleanout, and it matters. Many items in an estate have real use left in them. Coordinating with local organizations to accept furniture, clothing, and household goods reduces what goes to a dumpster load and may provide documentation useful for the estate's accounting.
If there are items of potential value — antiques, collectibles, estate jewelry — a cleanout should not happen before those items are evaluated. That's not a scare tactic; it's just the order of operations. Appraisal first, removal second.
The closing date on a property, if there is one, creates a real deadline. Probate deadlines can also create pressure on timing. Knowing those dates early lets you sequence the cleanout, any needed repairs, and the property listing in an order that actually works.
Talking to the Right People
In the first week, you don't need to have answers. You need to find the people who can help you get them. That list typically includes:
An estate attorney, if the estate has complexity — significant assets, debt, or family disagreement. Missouri has its own probate rules, and an attorney familiar with St. Louis County proceedings is worth the conversation.
A CPA or tax professional, particularly if the deceased had ongoing income, investments, or a business. Estate tax questions don't resolve themselves.
A trusted estate cleanout provider, not to schedule anything yet, but to understand what the process looks like and what it would involve for this specific property. Insured and background-checked providers who work within a vetted network can walk through a home with you and give you honest information without pushing you toward a decision.
The family, if there are beneficiaries who have opinions about personal property. Getting ahead of those conversations — calmly, early — tends to go better than addressing them after decisions have already been made.
Pacing Yourself Through It
What an executor actually has to do in the first week is manageable when you break it into its actual components. File the will. Secure the property. Begin a basic inventory. Identify the professionals you'll need. Start understanding the timeline.
That's it. You don't have to empty the house this week. You don't have to have every answer. You don't have to know what the cleanout will cost or how long it will take before you've even had a single real conversation about it.
Heritage Property Transitions has worked with families throughout St. Louis — from Clayton to Kirkwood to Webster Groves — who came to us not knowing what the process looked like, what it would cost, or how to even begin asking the right questions. We don't rush those conversations. We sit with them until they make sense.
If you're in the early days of settling an estate and you'd like to talk through what the property piece might involve, we're here. No pressure, no timeline you didn't set, and no decisions until you're ready to make them.
Ready to get started? Heritage Property Transitions can help.