When a person dies, a process known as "estate administration" must be carried out. This refers to all the processes 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 Santa Fe, New Mexico, the process will be carried out according to the directives included in the will, assuming they are legitimate and enforceable.

The decedent usually names in the will an executor of his or her estate. The executor is the person whose job it is to take the lead role in the administration of an estate.

The executor generally has at least some work cut out for them. This obviously raises the issue of compensation. The easiest way to guarantee 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 done.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If a will in Santa Fe, New Mexico does not name a person to serve as executor, or the decedent dies without having written a will, the court will assign a person to act as estate administrator.

Usually, the person chosen to be executor is the one who would benefit most under the will, or under New Mexico's intestacy laws. "Intestacy" refers to a situation in which a person dies without a will, or "dies intestate." Every state has laws to address this situation, and there isn't a lot of variation from state to state. Usually, the decedent's property will go to his or her closest relative, and if absolutely no living relatives can be found, it will go to the state.

When a will is silent as to who should be the executor, any individual who has some direct interest in the result can ask to be named executor by the Santa Fe, New Mexico court.

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 safeguard the estate's interests as they would their own.

Can a Santa Fe, New Mexico Estate Administration Attorney Help?

If you have unexpectedly been appointed to be the executor of a relative's estate, and don't know how to handle this process, you should speak with a reputable Santa Fe, New Mexico wills and trusts attorney.