probate small estate

[mrmoosh]

What is the name of your state? ny
My mother recently passed away leaving a will to divide her estate amongst her four children and naming our cousin as exeutrix.
My mother was on medicaid in a hospital and has no real property except for a irrevocable trust which became hers on my fathers death and the contents of a safe deposit box (jewelery, mint coins, no cash). The safe deposit box contents, which are in the hands of another cousin holding them for us, was the result of a probate of my fathers will.
My question is does my cousin need to probate?
She is quite worried that she will be legally responsible if one of my brothers is not happy with the way the safe deposit box contents are distributed and brings suit against her.

 

[Dandy Don]

Since the irrevocable trust will be handled outside of probate, there may not be a need for probate in this instance.

Cousin needs to contact the bank that is holding the safe deposit box to find out what the bank's rules and regulations are for her to claim the contents and get some idea of what the value is. Has she decided whether she is going to sell the contents or distribute them amongst the heirs? She will need to contact the county courthouse to find out what the minimum amount of estate value must add up to in total before probate is required. Most likely everything will add up to less than the minimum.

If she has any more questions/concerns, she will need to consult a probate lawyer. If she distributes the items according to probate law, then she will have nothing to worry about.

 

[mrmoosh]

Thank you for the advice.
The situation has now changed.
My cousin is requesting from the Surrogate Court to decline to serve as executrix. All the beneficiaries recieved a copy of the letter that was sent to the Surrogate Court requesting the declination. What happens in this situation? What do we need to do? Any advice would be helpful.

 

[Dandy Don]

Talk to the cousin to find out what her reason is for declining--does she somehow feel she is too busy to do it or not up to the task or doesn't have the time, or is it possible that she has used her status as executrix to clean out the safe deposit box of its contents?

Does the will mention any other assets besides the safe deposit box contents? It's hard to believe that there is any reason to go through probate if there are no other assets to be distributed? Find out what the total value of all estate assets are to see whether or not you meet the minimum amount of estate value required for probate in your county.

If you meet that minimum, then another family member can apply to be executor or a probate attorney you hire can be executor, unless the will mentions the name of someone who could serve as alternate executor just in case the first named executor could not serve.