"Estate administration" refers to the process 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 governing the distribution of the assets of a person who dies without a will.

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

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

The executor is frequently 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 quickly as possible.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If the will in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts 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.

Typically, this will be the person who has the most to acquire from the will, or who would gain the most under Massachusetts'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 an East Longmeadow, Massachusetts 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 East Longmeadow, Massachusetts Estate Administration Attorney Help?

If you are the administrator of an estate, and are not a legal and/or financial professional, you might confront legal or tax issues with which you are unfamiliar. An East Longmeadow, Massachusetts attorney would be quite helpful in such a situation.