What recourse does a beneficiary have when the Executor gives away all significant belongings before the beneficiary has an opportunity to choose something?

Answer 1

Plenty... there is a whole body of law called "Equity" that grew out of precedent and became formalized in the UK, to protect the rights of beneficiaries, especially minors, incompetents and family members where there is no will written, or in contested wills and such. The law of many countries seem to follow English law on most general issues.

To answer your question more specifically, are you a named beneficiary of the will, and are the items listed in the will per se? Are the items gifted to anyone specifically in the will, if not the items in question would presumably become what is known as residuary items and usually the residual items are proportionately spread amongst the multiple beneficiaries or given to the only beneficiary. Note however that in the calculation of the residual items, monies must first be deducted for estate taxes, debts, fees and expenses of the administration. If no money is available, personal items such as paintings, furniture etc could be sold to pay the estate's expenses.

Any grievance on your part should be documented at the first opportunity and in the US you could discuss this and document your grievance with the District Attorney, or taken to a family or probate court (in USA) or in England to chancellory court.

If the executor has taken action but say only after many years (eg 5 years after the death of the settlor), your case would be weaker. If the executor acted in concert with the other executors your case would be weaker. If the executor did this action without contacting any beneficiaries, your case becomes much stronger. If the executor gave items to non-family persons, and you are family, your case becomes strong. If the executor gave items to family members who are equal to yourself in relationship to the deceased settlor, (eg. you are one of many children) your case is still a good one, as you should have participated in the sharing.