Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Alabama

Re: allowed to use money?

I do not understand from your question where the person died and whether Virginia or Alabama law applies. I am only licensed as an attorney in Virginia and do not know Alabama law.

But I am quite confident in answering your question "NO!" The clause you are talking about refers to challenging the validity OF THE WILL. Of course, I have not read the will in your particular case. You need to get a copy and study it carefully, preferably with an attorney.

However, it is very standard to have a clause saying that if anyone challenges the validity of the will itself (meaning they come into court and try to get the will ruled invalid and have the will thrown out, so that the estate is administered without any will at all), then they lose their share in the estate.

However, what you are talking about is TOTALLY different. You are talking about challenging the conduct of the executor, in terms of how the executor administers the will.

This is totally different. It is absolutely NOT true that you cannot question how the executor is acting. Every heir or interested party has a right to ensure that the executor is FOLLOWING the will faithfully. This is your legal right. Indeed, if any will had a clause taking away your right to make sure that the executor faithfully carries out the terms of the will, I think that such a clause would be void as contrary to public policy.

What I understand that you are proposing is to make sure the executor is doing what the will says. That is totally different. The executor has a legal responsibility under the law to do what the will says.

Re: allowed to use money?

The practice you've asked about regarding what some might characterize as a premature distribution to one of the benficiaries of the estate is quite common and as long as the final accounting filed before the close of the estate shows that each of the beneficiaries received what he or she was entitled to either under the will or the state's scheme of intestacy, there

should be no problem.