An executor of an estate is usually a family member, but it can also be a close friend, lawyer, accountant, financial institution, or financial advisor. In some cases, the deceased can name more than one executor, called co-executors.
The answer would be the decedent's heirs, who may consist of their surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews, among others. To put it simply, even when there is no will, the administrator does not have the authority to decide who gets what.
Executors who violate their duty may face legal action by beneficiaries or creditors, although they cannot be held accountable for a decline in asset value unless it resulted from their unreasonable actions.
Given the magnitude of the responsibilities and the intimacy of the role, you may want to name a close friend or relative as executor, someone who fully understands and respects your wishes, as well as those of your beneficiaries, and who might handle your sentimental heirlooms and other property more sensitively than ...
An executor can also be someone you've named as a beneficiary in your will. The role of an executor is a serious one which carries a lot of responsibility. When choosing your executor or executors you need to bear this in mind. It should be someone you trust to carry out this work.
As executor, it is your responsibility to locate the original will and submit it for probate. It is a good idea to get it now and make sure you are keeping it in a safe place.
No. An executor of a will cannot take everything unless they are the will's sole beneficiary. An executor is a fiduciary to the estate beneficiaries, not necessarily a beneficiary. Serving as an executor only entitles someone to receive an executor fee.
Unlike executors, beneficiaries can petition the court to have the executor removed if they are acting improperly or breaching their fiduciary duties. Beneficiaries can also petition the court to surcharge the executor if any of their actions financially harmed the estate. A probate lawyer can assist with this process.
No, they're obligated to follow the will's directives. Beneficiaries chosen by the decedent remain unchanged. They can only be removed if parts of the will are invalidated, typically through a successful legal challenge. Executors must respect and implement the original wishes of the testator.
While beneficiaries can often disagree with an executor's decisions, unless the executor clearly violates the terms of the will or breaches their fiduciary duty, there is typically nothing a beneficiary can do about it.
An executor of a will cannot arbitrarily decide who gets what from the decedent's estate. Their primary responsibility is to distribute the estate according to the instructions in the will. Or in the absence of a will, according to the laws of intestacy of the state where the estate is being settled.
Therefore an executor is a person allocated by the deceased prior to their death who's responsible for ensuring that the terms of the will are carried out. Whereas a next of kin will only handle these responsibilities in the absence of a will.
Traditionally, many people name their oldest adult child to be the executor of their estate – but this is done out of a sense of propriety, not necessarily rationally.
Inheritance hijacking can be simply defined as inheritance theft — when a person steals what was intended to be left to another party. This phenomenon can manifest in a variety of ways, including the following: Someone exerts undue influence over a person and convinces them to name them an heir.
Beneficiary Rights and Accounting
According to California Probate Code section 10950, if more than a year has passed since the beginning of probate administration and an accounting has not been filed, interested parties are entitled to file a petition with the court to make the executor to complete an accounting.
While California law grants executors considerable authority in managing estate assets, the powers of an executor of a will are limited by the fiduciary duties owed to the estate and its beneficiaries. This means that executors are legally required to act in the best interests of the estate and its beneficiaries.
California has one of the most detailed schemes, which provides that the executor fee is four percent of the first $100,000 of the estate, three percent of the next $100,000, two percent of the next $800,000, one percent on the next $9 million, one-half of one percent on the next $15 million, and a “reasonable amount" ...
The executor has authority from the county probate court to act in this role, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the executor has the final say on all decisions regarding the estate. In fact, they're instead tasked with simply following the guidelines set forth by the will and other estate planning documents.
While executors have discretion in some areas, your core decision-making is bounded by: The deceased's will. You must follow their distribution wishes rather than diverging based on your own judgments.
The Drawbacks of Being an Executor
Being an executor can be very time consuming, depending on the complexity of the estate. There can be seemingly endless phone calls to make, trips to the courthouse, and documents to mail.
In short, yes, a person holding a power of attorney can also be a beneficiary in a will. However, there are important considerations and potential conflicts of interest to be aware of.