The family lawyer is a frequent choice as executor. Unless lawyers carry a good deal of estate administration, they may not have the facilities for carrying on an executor's functions, such as bookkeeping, investment decisions, and so on. Lawyers tend to be very busy and unless executorships are a normal part of their practice, the administration of an estate may be shunted to a very secondary position and not receive adequate consideration. The family accountant is another popular choice as executor. When the matter is carefully considered, it will be sometimes found that the accountant can better serve the interests of the estate by performing accounting and auditing functions only.
Trust companies provide permanence and stability in the administration of an estate.
A trust company exists indefinitely. Thus, a desirable continuity can be attained by name in a trust company as executor. Another advantage in using trust companies is that the estate is well protected against the dishonesty or financial irresponsibility of the executor. Finally, and this is in many ways the most important factor, trust companies are professional executors. Trust companies can offer to the estate a kind of full service administrative package that can rarely be equaled elsewhere.