What an executor actually has to do in the first week is something most people have never thought about — until they're the one holding the will.
If you've recently been named executor of an estate in St. Louis, MO, you may be sitting with a folder of paperwork, a house full of belongings, and very little sense of what comes first. That's not a failure of preparation. It's just the reality of a role most people step into without a map. Heritage Property Transitions works alongside families navigating exactly this moment, and what we hear most often is some version of the same thing: "I didn't know where to begin."
This article is a plain-spoken walkthrough of what the first week typically looks like — not to rush you, but to give you a clearer picture of the ground ahead.
Day One and Two: Secure the Property and Locate Key Documents
Before anything else, your job is to protect the estate. That means making sure the home is locked, that utilities are still running if needed, and that you have a working set of keys. If the deceased lived in a neighborhood like Clayton or Ladue, where property values are high and homes can sit vacant for weeks during probate, this step matters more than it might seem. A vacant house with an unlocked side door or a lapsed homeowner's policy can create complications that follow you through the entire estate process.
On those first two days, focus on finding:
The original will and any codicils
Life insurance policies
Bank and investment account statements
Vehicle titles and property deeds
A list of recurring bills or automatic payments
You don't need to act on all of these immediately. You need to know where they are.
Day Three: Notify the Right People
Once you have a handle on the documents, you'll begin notifying institutions. This includes the Social Security Administration, any pension providers, and the deceased's bank. You'll also want to contact an estate attorney if you haven't already — especially if the estate will go through formal probate in St. Louis County. Missouri has specific timelines for filing, and missing a probate deadline can create real problems down the road.
This is also the time to notify the post office to forward mail. Statements, refund checks, and legal notices will keep arriving, and you need to capture them.
Day Four and Five: Walk the Property
At some point in the first week, you'll need to do a slow, room-by-room walk through the home. The goal isn't to sort or decide anything yet. The goal is to understand the scope of what you're dealing with.
Take photos of every room. Note anything that appears to be of significant value — furniture, artwork, collectibles, jewelry. If you're not sure whether something has value, don't guess. An estate appraiser can walk through the home and give you a professional assessment before anything is moved, donated, or discarded.
This walk-through is also when you'll start to get a feel for what an estate cleanout will require. A three-bedroom home in Kirkwood with forty years of accumulated belongings is a different undertaking than a recently downsized apartment. Some estates involve a single dumpster load of items with no resale value. Others involve weeks of coordination across multiple categories — furniture going to buyers, clothing going to donation, boxes of papers going to shredding. Knowing which situation you're in early helps you plan realistically.
Day Six: Start Building Your Timeline
By the middle of the first week, most executors have a clearer picture of what they're facing. Now is the time to start working backward from your key dates.
Do you have a closing date on the property already set? Is there a lease that needs to be terminated? Are beneficiaries expecting a distribution within a certain window? These dates will shape how much time you have for the estate cleanout and whether you'll need to coordinate donation pickup, a dumpster, or both.
What an executor actually has to do in the first week is less about finishing tasks and more about understanding the full picture so you can make decisions without scrambling later. The families who feel most in control by week two are usually the ones who spent week one gathering information rather than rushing to act.
A Note on the Cleanout Question
One of the most common things executors ask is: what should a cleanout cost, and how long will it take?
The honest answer is that it depends on factors specific to the property — square footage, volume of items, access to the home, whether donation coordination is part of the scope, and whether any items need to go to specialty disposal. A home in Webster Groves with a full basement and a detached garage will take longer and cost more than a two-bedroom condo with minimal contents.
Heritage Property Transitions connects families with vetted, insured, and background-checked providers who can walk the property and give you a realistic scope — not a number pulled from a formula. The family sets the pace. If you need two weeks before anyone touches anything, that's a legitimate choice. If you're working against a closing date, that's a different conversation, and the right provider will work with that timeline honestly.
What we've found is that most executor anxiety around the cleanout comes from not knowing what to expect. Once someone walks the house and gives you a clear picture of what a full estate cleanout will involve — how many loads, what can be donated, what the timeline looks like — the uncertainty lifts considerably.
Day Seven: Rest, or Ask for Help
The first week of serving as executor is mentally exhausting in a way that's hard to explain to someone who hasn't done it. You're grieving and administering at the same time. You're making decisions that feel permanent. You're fielding questions from family members who have their own feelings about what should happen to the dining room table.
It's worth saying plainly: you don't have to figure all of this out alone. Estate attorneys, appraisers, and cleanout providers who work regularly with executors in the St. Louis area — from Belleville to St. Louis County — understand the constraints you're working within. A good professional won't push you toward decisions you're not ready to make.
What an executor actually has to do in the first week is establish a foundation — not finish the job. Secure the property, locate the documents, understand the scope, and build a timeline that's honest about what you're facing. Everything else follows from that.
If you're in St. Louis and you're trying to figure out what a cleanout would actually involve for the property you're managing, Heritage Property Transitions is a straightforward place to start the conversation.
Ready to get started? Heritage Property Transitions can help.