settling a will

[stellato]

What is the name of your state? Illinois
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My mother died recently, the terms of her will included one brother receiving proceeds of the sale of her house after a reverse mortgage is satisfied, and all six siblings dividing the contents of the house. Another sibling was named as executor.
The contents have been distributed by the brother at his whim, not to the satisfaction of all involved. The person named executor has been basically ignored and in fact told that because she lives in Texas she cannot execute our mother's will.
Now the brother's friend has filed the will with Cook County and it seems the house will be sold. Is there any recourse for the siblings that have been ignored to obtain items from the contents of the house? Can the will go to probate without our signatures as we were named in the will?

 

[GaAtty]

GaAtty

Yes , it can go to probate (by that I mean get started), but cannot be completed without your signatures. The person who is executor needs to get their act together. The executor can file an action in probate court which makes the rebellious relatives behave and put back whatever they have illgally removed from the estate. The executor can also stop the sale of the house until other matters are resolved. However, the executor has to make some kind of effort, and it does not sound like they are interested in doing so. One way that I know is that it sounds like this person has not even consulted an attorney for help. However, in most states, any heir or interested party can also file an action in court to prevent people from going through the estate. Which means that you probably could do so (again, check state law). As far as the person not being executor if they live in another state, well, my state does not require that a person be a resident of this state to be executor, so it could be possible that your state has no restrictions. However, you need to check your state's law on that.