Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New York

If there is a will, the executor will be named in the will. If there is no will, there there will not be an executor, but, rather, certain family members will qualify to be the "administrator" of the estate. But if there is a will that has not as yet been probated, and if nobody has stepped forward to claim that there is no will and that the person died intestate, then there is nobody who is entitled to act on behalf of the estate.

If there exists a will, but there is a failure to probate it, that can be regarded as a criminal offense, particularly if the substantive rights of family members are affected.

Good luck to you.