Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in North Carolina

Being a beneficiary and being a personal representative of the will are two completely different things in most cases. Renouncing the right to serve as personal representative does not mean that you also renounce your right to inherit. However, I would have to review the will to know for certain in case the perrson that made the will attached conditions.

A personal representative or executrix is charged with administering the estate; i.e., finding out what the decedent owned, what the decedent owed, paying any just debts and distributing what is left to the beneficiaries. Beneficiaries just receive the property they have inherited. So these jobs have nothing to do with each other.

Since you were left what sounds like a life estate, again I would need to see the document. If you were just left a life estate with no conditions, it means that you can stay in the home for the rest of your life. If you want to move somewhere else, you can rent the home out for the rest of your life. You would be entitled to any rents from the land and you are responsible to maintain the property as well as pay for any taxes, insurance and utilities. I have seen conditional wills which provide that if the life tenant leaves the home for a set period, then the life estate ends. Again, read the will to see what it says.

I don't understand how you can be charged with trespassing. A personal representative of the estate does need to inventory and appraise the assets and assume some level of control. However, title to the land passes as per the will to the beneficiaries named in the will immediately upon death. If you are granted a life tenancy, then you should be allowed to remain in the home. The only situation where the personal representative can seize control is where there are not enough assets in the estate to pay any claims. In such case, any real property may have to be sold. Unless the will gives the personal representative to sell the property, the personal representative must seek permission from the court to do this.

Is there some kind of order forbidding you to enter the property? If not, and if the successor personal representative is not granting you access despite the fact that you have a life estate, then I would seek out local counsel (other than the estate attorney) and see if some accomodation can be reached short of seeking the personal representative's removal. However, if the personal representative is not doing his/her job properly, then he/she can be removed.