Intestate Proceedings

[premon]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

I have an Uncle who has died Intestate .The legal administrator whom all the other legal heirs have appointed does not respond to the queries of the legal heirs or shows no interest in administering the property or is acting very suspiciously. In such a case what are the legal rights of the other heirs..??

 

[anteater]

They can petition the court to have the administrator removed.

Don't know what you mean by "acting very suspiciously." But "...not respond[ing] to the queries of the legal heirs" probably won't get you very far since the administrator is not required to keep up a stream of communication with the heirs. Whether "...no interest in administering the property" will get you anywhere depends upon what you mean and how long probate has been open.

 

[premon]

Thank you for the prompt response.. What I meant by acting suspiciously was that she is refusing to give us the copy of the petition filed with the surrogate court... All the other legal heirs would like to know what petition has been filed, eg we want to know the total assests worth, how much of funeral exps are they claiming and what all other exps they would be deducting without our knowledge.Is there any away we can legally challenge the administrator to give us a copy of the petition?

 

[anteater]

A comment on one thing that you said in your first post:

...all the other legal heirs have appointed...

The heirs do not appoint the administrator. The Surrogate's Court does. The heirs may give their consent to the appointment (in New York, I believe that they have to), but it is the court that does the appointing.

How long ago was probate opened?

I am a bit rusty on New York, but I don't recall that the administrator is required to provide much information the heirs/beneficiaries beyond a notification of the opening of probate and appointment of the administrator. At least not until the probate case is ready to be closed. Any filings, such as an inventory, would be available at the court.

If you wish to see the procedures in New York, the Surrogate's Court Procedures Act is at this link:
http://law.justia.com/newyork/codes/surrogates-court-procedure/index.html