Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

The answer is probably no. In a probate the executor and his counsel cannot get paid until the court approves their fees. That approval generally comes at the end of the probate so unless they obtained early or interim approval, they probably can't pay themselves. On the otherhand, if this is all that the executor was waiting for and everyone is in agreement, it should be a relatively simple process to obtain the Court's approval to close the estate which would inlcude paying any fees and making distributions to the beneficiaries.

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