All of your assets. Your home or other land you might own, money, bonds, possessions, anything that is to be disposed of or distrubuted after your death.

If the property is owned by a valid trust it is not part of the decedent's estate. The purpose of the trust was to protect and preserve the property for the children. The second wife has no rights in the property.

Yes, if the executor approves. It needs to be beneficial to the estate to do so and at a market price.

Your question is troublesome.

An executor must be appointed by the probate court. The executor has the duty, power and authority to settle the estate under the supervision of that court. If you are the duly appointed executor it is YOUR responsibility to pay any estate taxes that are due. In fact, the debts of the decedent must be paid before any assets are distributed to the heirs. Therefore, the heir you speak of shouldn't have access to estate assets until the estate taxes and creditors have been paid. As executor you can be held personally responsible for any debts of the decedent that are not properly paid.

You should consult with an attorney who specializes in probate law.

Generally, anything that a married couple accumulates during the marriage is considered community property, that is, both spouses own an undivided share of the whole. Community property courts start with a strong presumption that anything acquired during marriage is a community item, the spouse claiming a particular item is not community property has the burden of proving otherwise.

There are some defined areas that do not fall under community property: separate property acquired before marriage or during marriage using separate property funds, items acquired as a gift, in a will, or as inheritance, and the rents and profits received from separate property.

Almost all 50 states have the same laws. However, the time periods and challenge processes may vary.

The probate court will assign a 'temporary' executor who is an officer of the court to ensure that no assets are 'gone missing' during the assignment phase.

Then the probate court will designate a 'permanant' executor based on the typical family pass-on structure that already exists in all states. Order being, 1) Spouse, 2) Children in order of oldest male child (over 18) down, then oldest female child (over 18) down. 3) Parents (If both husband and wife die simultaneously, then the husbands parents first, wives parents second). Then it progresses to Grandchildren (oldest first), Grandparents (husbands first), then it starts getting into nephews/neices, then uncles/aunts.

If an executor isn't named in the will, the probate court MUST appoint according to these rules, but that doesn't stop anyone else with a family interest in the estate from contesting it. Say, the oldest surviving son is in jail for financial or insurance fraud. Obviously someone can petition to not have him assigned executor. It's best to always have an executor unless the normal 'chain of inheritance' works for you.

It is called the age of majority. In most places it is set at 18, but can be as high as 21 depending on the state or country. Until then an individual is not considered an adult and cannot enter into contracts.

Greetings Everyone: Below are several venues but not ALL to help you start your journey to locating a Last Will and Testament. First, locate the source who drafted the Last Will and Testament, for instance, an attorney, notary public, online provider these folks will give you insight where the document is probably located. Second, check with the Clerk of Court at the courthouse in the jurisdiction where the decedent lived. Years ago people wanted to deposit documents like the Last Will and Testament in a safe place where it would be accessible to anyone. Third, if you are a relative or close friend of the decedent go to the bank and ask them which documents are required to access the safe deposit box. If you not familiar with working with financial institutions pertaining to Safe Deposit Accessiblilty than you will definitely need an attorney or notary public (depending upon your state laws) to help you gain access to the safe deposit box, accounts, etc. Fourth, communicate with family, friends, neighbors or vendors of the decedent. S/he probably confined personal information about their last wishes. Who knows they may have the missing link to the puzzle. Lastly, the decedent probably handwritten (olographic will), which can easily be mistaken as something other than the Last Will and Testament. Handwritten wills are legal and does not require two subscribing witnesses, typewritten or affixed notary seal. Greetings Everyone: Below are several venues but not ALL to help you start your journey to locating a Last Will and Testament. First, locate the source who drafted the Last Will and Testament, for instance, an attorney, notary public, online provider these folks will give you insight where the document is probably located. Second, check with the Clerk of Court at the courthouse in the jurisdiction where the decedent lived. Years ago people wanted to deposit documents like the Last Will and Testament in a safe place where it would be accessible to anyone. Third, if you are a relative or close friend of the decedent go to the bank and ask them which documents are required to access the safe deposit box. If you not familiar with working with financial institutions pertaining to Safe Deposit Accessiblilty than you will definitely need an attorney or notary public (depending upon your state laws) to help you gain access to the safe deposit box, accounts, etc. Fourth, communicate with family, friends, neighbors or vendors of the decedent. S/he probably confined personal information about their last wishes. Who knows they may have the missing link to the puzzle. Lastly, the decedent probably handwritten (olographic will), which can easily be mistaken as something other than the Last Will and Testament. Handwritten wills are legal and does not require two subscribing witnesses nor typewritten.

The executor has no legal right to live there rent-free, but this will depend on the probate laws of the state of probate. It is a tricky practical question because there are benefits and detriments to having the executor live in the house rent free.

Begin with the idea that an executor entitled to complete possession of all estate property during administration but is not allowed to use estate property for personal gain Also, executors must use assets of the estate to reasonably maximize income prior to distribution. Taking those at face value the answer is that the executor has no right to live there rent-free. Living rent-free is using estate assets for personal gain and not earning income. Theoretically it could be rented short term to someone other than the executor and the house would earn income. But renting houses on a short term basis is not recommended and usually not done because tenants may refuse to leave and have to be evicted through the courts. Or they may damage the house.

In the real world though it sometimes happens because there are benefits to having someone in the house rather than leaving it vacant. A vacant house costs more to insure than a house with a resident, so the estate saves on insurance. Another benefit is prevention of possible damage in case a fire starts or pipes freeze or vandalism occurs or contents are stolen or even if squatters break in. A person living there would be able to prevent serious damage.

The problem with those benefits is that aside from the extra cost of insurance, they cannot be quantified to see if they are worth more than not renting the place out. For this reason, it is generally held that an executor has no inherent right to live in the estate house rent-free. But the alternative is to pay higher insurance rates and perhaps pay to board up the house. Either way the estate will incur some expense to preserve the house. For this reason, everyone usually gets together and agrees on some compromise.

The executor might be the spouse of the deceased, and the property might be the house in which the executor lived prior to death - back to the question of practicalities

I saw there is a Tums for Kids ages 2-11.

They will do it according to the law. Each state or jurisdiction has a law that specifies how it is distributed.

Executor's fees are addressed under the probate laws in each particular jurisdiction. You need to check the laws in yours.

Executor's fees are addressed under the probate laws in each particular jurisdiction. You need to check the laws in yours.

Executor's fees are addressed under the probate laws in each particular jurisdiction. You need to check the laws in yours.

Executor's fees are addressed under the probate laws in each particular jurisdiction. You need to check the laws in yours.

You can usually get the forms from the court house or perhaps online. It would be a request to be appointed executor and a letter of authority. If they are properly filled out, the court will sign the letter of authority.

No. A codicil is an "amendment" to a Will. As such, it must be signed by the testator (maker of the Will) with the same formality as the Will was signed.

An executor does not assume his/her/its power until the death of the testator; until then, the executor has no power. After death, the Will cannot be changed.

A trustee may be appointed in a Will to act in some administrative capacity with respect to the property of a testator. Alternatively, a trustee may be appointed by a trust document executed by another person during that person's life. If so done, the trustee is charged with carrying out the terms of the trust, and has no greater powers than granted by the trust.

If your grandmother is still living, you can't. If she is deceased, the executor of the will is required to notify you if you are in the will. If there is no will, and your parents are deceased, then you should contact the probate court and/or executor.

Depends how the account was set up (Joint Tentancy with Survivorship Rights, Grantors Trust, under the UGMA, etc.) The generic answer is no, it would not be treated as income. The money in the account would be included in the decedants estate and be distributed through either Trust or Probate as a qualifying gift.

Answer

You find a lawyer to do it for you. Find a Probate lawyer, call or message him if through a website. Many of them will give you a free consultation and you can decide what to do from that point. There are plenty of situations where executors have no business being executors of an estate so find yourself a lawyer and do whatever you need to do if things are not right. If you cannot afford a lawyer, contact the bar association in your state. Many states have organizations, legal aid, to assist people who cannot afford an attorney. If you cannot locate one of the organizations, your local library should be able to assist you in finding a legal aid service in your area.

Intestate. A person who dies without having made a will is said to be intestate. In that case the probate court will appoint an Administrator (when a petition for Administration is filed) and the estate will be distributed according to the state laws of intestacy, which can vary from state to state.

You can file an objection to the appointment of the executor during the period reserved for such objections in your jurisdictions. If you think the court appointed executor is not performing their duties properly you can file a motion with the court to have the matter reviewed.

No they can't. However, if the beneficiary is being unreasonable, then the Executor has the right to ask the beneficiary to deal with him through their lawyer. Answer An executor can deny a beneficiary access to property in an estate. Once again though, you must check the laws of the jurisdiction which govern that estate. Most states have laws that say that an executor is entitled to possession and control of all estate assets during administration. Many also provide that if an executor demands that a beneficiary give back an asset that the beneficiary has taken, the beneficiary must give it back. This is necessary for the orderly administration of every estate. You can imagine the chaos that would ensue if every beneficiary had full access to everything in the estate while administration of the estate is going on. Don't forget that the other parts of settling an estate may involve the sale of some items in order to pay debts owed by the deceased. It is often more easily and efficiently done if you let the executor--named by the deceased--complete the job.

It is not a wise decision to put your name on your mother's property due to tax reasons. However, it can be done, when a name is added to the deed of the property, it needs to go through the bank who holds the mortgage and the court.

If you know the court or office where the will was admitted to probate, you can find out there. The judgment or order admitting the will to probate and appointing the executor will be matters of public record.