Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

You must be named as such in her Will.

Normally, you retain an attorney to file a probate petition in the Surrogate's Court of the county of residence at death. Once Letters Testamentary are issued by the court you may disburse the assets of the estate.

In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.

I agree with Arnold that there must first be a Will designating you as Executor and then a probate proceeding to process the Will and have you appointed is commenced. You then have the obligations to pay all bills and expenses, file any applicable tax retruns (income or death) and then distribute the remaining assets as the Will provides, after accounting to the beneficiaries. Yhis is a response to an Internet question and the reply is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship.