Can A Preliminary Executor Be Appointed For A Decedent's Estate?

The short answer is yes but it is not a definitive answer. If the estate of the decedent will take a long time to go through probate, if there is a will or in the absence of a will, the administration of the decedent’s estate will be protracted due to disputes within the estate, such as a will contest or the objection to the appointment of a nominated Executor for fear that that the nominee is unfit for the job or fails to qualify, a Preliminary Executor can be appointed. In the meantime, the assets of the decedent’s estate must still be collected and preserved to avoid waste for the ultimate beneficiaries. Such circumstances would qualify for the issuance of Preliminary Letters under the Surrogate Court Procedure Act Section 1412.

There is some urgency to the management of the decedent’s estate, while the estate disputes are ongoing, that propels the court to grant the appointment to handle the affairs of the estate in the interim. If you have questions feel free to give us a call @ 516-570-4016.