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Appointing Executor

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MelissaJax

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Indiana

My father passed away January 22, 2008. I spoke with his lawyer about a month after his death and was told that the executor Dad chose could not do the job because of conflict of interest. He is a financial planner and his company will not allow him to be executor. At that time, the lawyer was waiting for a document from the financial planner so he could appoint another executor. Now it's the end of May and we still haven't heard anything. My sister spoke with the lawyer and was told that he 'had a letter ready' to send out naming some firm as executor.

1. Why would we want a firm to handle the estate? Dad had a will, and had put everything into trusts before his death. I have the time to handle it, and my sister and I believe that a family member will keep things moving better than a large firm. I live out of state, but travel is not an issue.

2. How do we reject the lawyer's nomination? We believe there are 5 beneficiaries - do all need to agree to not use the firm and all agree on the new executor? I do not anticipate any objections to me acting as executor.

3. Dad's lawyer is very unresponsive. He has not kept us up to date on the delay, he does not return my calls, and my sister just happened to catch him in the office. Do I need to hire my own lawyer to speak with him?

4. Is this type of delay typical and something to be expected?

Thanks for the help!
 
Last edited:


anteater

Senior Member
First question:
What is this lawyer's role in this? Who retained the lawyer? How is the lawyer authorized to be doing anything? A lawyer does not "appoint another executor." A will nominates, the court appoints.

If you are able and willing to serve, call the lawyer immediately, tell him/her that, and that you will object to the appointment of anybody else.

I was going to blither on further, but the second question pertains to this:
1. Why would we want a firm to handle the estate? Dad had a will, and had put everything into trusts before his death....
A will is administered by a personal representative (executor) under the supervision of the probate court. Trusts are private documents, bypassing probate, and are administered by trustees.

You need to clarify the situation.
 

MelissaJax

Junior Member
First question:
What is this lawyer's role in this? Who retained the lawyer? How is the lawyer authorized to be doing anything? A lawyer does not "appoint another executor." A will nominates, the court appoints. If you are able and willing to serve, call the lawyer immediately, tell him/her that, and that you will object to the appointment of anybody else.
The lawyer was appointed by Dad before his death to handle his affairs. Who retained him? That's a good question - I guess Dad did. I called a left him a message yesterday saying that I object to an outside firm and I want to do it. I've told my sister that I will not sign the letter of authorization if it ever comes, and she said she will do the same.

A will is administered by a personal representative (executor) under the supervision of the probate court. Trusts are private documents, bypassing probate, and are administered by trustees. You need to clarify the situation.
Sorry, I was vague there. My point was only that Dad has an up-to-date will and his estate is neatly organized. There is no need for high-powered experts to step in. It's not like we have no will and/or a fortune to disperse.

I'm going to visit the courthouse on Friday and see if I can get a copy of the will.
 

anteater

Senior Member
The lawyer was appointed by Dad before his death to handle his affairs. Who retained him? That's a good question - I guess Dad did.
If the attorney had the original will, I can see notifying the financial planner nominated by Dad as the personal representative. Everything after that is pretty presumptuous.

Probably one of the first issues that you or whoever gains appointment as personal representative will have to face is compensation of this attorney.

(Purely out of curiosity. Is this in a small town, tight-knit community? A lawyer, a financial planner, some sort of corporate personal representative... This sounds like a good old boy network in action scratching each others' backs.)
 

MelissaJax

Junior Member
I(Purely out of curiosity. Is this in a small town, tight-knit community? A lawyer, a financial planner, some sort of corporate personal representative... This sounds like a good old boy network in action scratching each others' backs.)
LOL! You hit the nail on the head! Small town Indiana at its best.

Melissa
 

MelissaJax

Junior Member
At this point, I don't care if Dad paid him or not. I hired my own attorney yesterday, and today she's going to retrieve the will so we can get things moving again. Thanks for the guidance.
 

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