"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 Madawaska, Maine, the process will be carried out according to the directives contained in the will, assuming they are valid and enforceable.

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

The executor is normally the person who stands to inherit the most money or property from the will, since this personn will have the greatest incentive to see the probate and administration process to completion.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

If a Madawaska, Maine will does not appoint anyone to serve as executor, or there is no will, the court has to choose someone to fill that role.

This is most commonly the person who would inherit most under the will, or under the intestacy scheme of Maine. Intestacy is when a person dies without having made a will, or if a will turns out to be invalid. The intestacy laws of each state govern how property is distributed in such a situation. In most states, it simply goes to the closest living relative.

If no executor is named in the will, anyone with a stake in the will can apply to the court in Madawaska, Maine to be the executor of the estate, if they wish.

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 Madawaska, Maine 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 brilliant Madawaska, Maine attorney, the process almost always goes pretty smoothly.