You may remember hearing a couple of years ago about a groom who disappeared on his honeymoon from a ship.  The widow just received a settlement from the cruise line of over one million dollars and his parents are appealing the probate judge’s ruling in the case.

The administrator or executor is a combination of the coach and quarterback.  He or she has a lot of decision making power.  While they are required to act in a fiduciary manner and to carry out the terms of the will or trust, in the absence of instructions in the will or trust, they make the decisions as to what real estate agent to hire; what to sell an asset for;  and how to divide the assets whether the decedent left  a will or trust or whether the decedent died intestate. 

Let us assume there is a Will which provides that the testator’s estate shall be divided equally by the kids and there are 3 kids.  Furthermore, the assets are a house worth $300,000, bank accounts worth $300,000 and miscellaneous other assets worth $300,000. As long as each individual receives $300,000 the executor can select how that occurs and which kid receives what.

The time to oppose someone being made the executor or administrator is at the beginning of the probate.  Obviously, if the deceased person has written in his will that he wanted someone to be the executor, the court is going to select that person unless it can be established to the court that the individual is unfit. 

In the event that there was not a will, the probate code has an order for choosing the administrator of the estate.  Once again, the person who is in the first position according to the probate code, will be made the administrator unless the probate judge can be convinced otherwise.

The lesson of this post, is that people who are interested in being the administrator of an estate should consult with a probate lawyer as soon as possible.