Can anyone petition to admit a Will even if an executor has been named?
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Can anyone petition to admit a Will even if an executor has been named?
A Will was sent to me, the surviving widow. The executor has never contacted me. The Will was admitted to probate by an attorney but not the executor. Can this other person (the attorney) be allowed to admit the Will for probate acting as a representative for the executor? If so, I should be sent a notice of what is going on with Will? I was sent nothing ever. Is this legal?
Asked on October 16, 2011 under Estate Planning, Illinois
Answers:
FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
Under the laws of every state any interested person to a Will whether they are named in it as a beneficiary or as the executor or not can file a petition to probate the Will in the superior court of the state where the person who signed the document last resided.
If there is an attorney doing the probate of the Will most likely the executor retained this attorney to start the court proceedings regarding it. It is not the attorney for the estate of the deceased person who submits the Will to probate, it is the interested person who does such. In your situation it is most likely the executor.
Invidual beneficiaries are entitled to be given notice of all proceedings concerning the probate of a Will. In your situation it seems that the probate process has just started and that there is not much to report. From what you have written about your situation there is nothing indicating what has transpired is improper. I suggest you contact the executor and the attorney for the Estate for a status report concerning the probate.
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