"Estate administration" refers to the procedure which must be followed when the estate of a person who has recently died is being distributed, either according to his or her wishes as laid out in a will, or the laws regulating the distribution of the assets of a person who dies without a will.

If the decedent (the person who died) left a will, the process of estate administration in Jeffersonville Indiana will usually be carried out according to the instructions in the will.

Most commonly, a will names a person to serve as executor, whose job it is to guarantee that the estate is properly administered.

The executor is often the person who will get the most money or property out of the will if it is given effect, because this is the person who will have the greatest incentive to see that the probate process goes as rapidly as possible.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If a will in Jeffersonville, Indiana 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 Indiana'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 Jeffersonville, Indiana 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 Jeffersonville, Indiana 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 Jeffersonville, Indiana wills and trusts attorney.