When a person dies, a process identified 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 has made a will in Plainview, New York, the process will play out according to the instructions stated in the will.

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

The executor is typically whoever stands to obtain the most money or property if the will is given effect, since that is the person who likely has the most incentive to do their part in seeing that the probate process plays out to completion.

What if The Will Does Not Name an Executor?

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

Typically, this will be the person who has the most to acquire from the will, or who would gain the most under New York'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 Plainview, New York 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 Plainview, New York 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. A Plainview, New York attorney would be quite helpful in such a situation.