An executor is someone named in a will as the person who will carry out the testator's formal wishes. Typical duties of an executor include paying outstanding taxes/debt and distributing any remaining assets among the testator’s heirs.
While executors handle the actual distribution of a testator’s assets, they are legally bound to distribute said assets in accordance with the testator’s wishes.
[Last updated in October of 2022 by the Wex Definitions Team]