When a person dies, a process known as "estate administration" must be carried out. This refers to all the procedures which must be followed in distributing a person's estate to their heirs or devisees.

If the decedent wrote a will before his or her death in Passaic County, New Jersey, the process will be carried out according to the directives contained in the will, assuming they are valid and enforceable.

Often, the will appoints an executor whose job it is to oversee the administration of the will.

The executor generally has at least some work cut out for them. This obviously raises the issue of compensation. The easiest way to ensure that the executor does his or her job is simply to appoint the person who has the most to gain from the will. That way, they cannot inherit until the process is completed.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If the will in Passaic County, New Jersey does not name an executor, or the decedent left no will to be found, the court has to appoint a person to serve as the administrator of the estate.

Usually, this will be the person who has the most to gain from the will, or who would gain the most under New Jersey's intestacy scheme (the system that distributes the decedent's property to his or her closest living relatives, if he or she dies without a will).

In cases where the will doesn't name an executor, or the person named is unable to take on that role for whatever reason, any person who has some direct stake in the decedent's estate (either because they're named in the will or stand to inherit by intestacy) can petition a Passaic County, New Jersey court to be appointed executor.

When the executor is chosen, they serve as a sort of incarnation of the decedent's estate - the estate's legal interests become the executor's interests, and the executor is expected to protect the estate's interests as they would their own.

Can a Passaic County, New Jersey Estate Administration Attorney Help?

Some people are surprised when they find out they've been named the executor of a relative's estate. The responsibilities can seem daunting, but with the help of a good Passaic County, New Jersey attorney, the process almost always goes pretty smoothly.