What if the executor does not probate the will?

What if the executor does not probate the will?

Attorney Gadi Zohar explains:

If an executor is named in a will and they don’t act, then someone else, an interested party can intervene and petition the court to have a different person admitted as executor. It’s actually the court that determines who the executor is. Not the person who created the will.

The person who created the will nominates the executor. So if the person who was nominated chooses not to act or can’t act for some reason within 30 days of the death of the decedent, then someone else can step forward and say the executor is not willing or able to act, judge, and I’d like you to appoint the next person in line as executor, or I’d like to appoint a professional fiduciary as executor or something like that.

So they do have a time period within which they need to start acting. Now, in some cases, there isn’t such an urgency, and as long as nobody objects to it, if an executor comes out and files for their letters testamentary later on, that’s fine. That shouldn’t be an issue. It could cause problems with some delays, but in general, there’s no rule that says that if an executor comes forward later, they missed the deadline, per se. As long as nobody else objects.