If you've been asked to be an executor for someone, you don't have to accept. And giving up the post is simple.

Q. My aunt is a widow, has no children and is in an assisted living center with dementia. A few years ago, she signed a will naming me as executor. I never received a copy of the will. One of my cousins told me she will receive my aunt’s house along with her bank accounts. How can I remove myself as executor?

A. You don’t need to remove yourself. After your aunt dies, you can decline to serve as executor.

Presumably the cousin who is inheriting your aunt’s estate will hire a lawyer, and that lawyer can prepare a simple one-page form for you to sign that says you decline to........

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