Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Why does it matter who attends? I don't get this.

Probate of the will involves the process of the executor submitting the will for probate (filing it with the court) and applying for issuance of letters testamentary. Whoever is named in the will gets to be the executor unless the will does not name someone.

If the will is invalid or some other challenge is to be brought to the will, then the person seeking to do this needs a probate lawyer and would need to file either written objections to the probate of the will or a will caveat.

So I don't understand why the relatives would even want to be there and even if they are physically present this is not going to have any bearing on anything unless written objections are filed or a caveat brought.

ideally, the executor ought to sit down with the beneficiaries under the will or notify them. Notice has to be sent anyway under the Orphans' Court rules.

Once the will is filed, the beneficiaries or heirs or anyone else can go to the courthouse and see the will that has been filed. This is a public record. After about 3 months from the issuance of letters testamentary, an inventory of the decedent's assets should be filed with the court. This also is a public record and anyone can see it.

Administration of the estate differs from probate (which is just proof of the validity of the will and filing). In estate administration, the executor's job is to figure out what the deceased owned and owed, publish notice to creditors, pay any just debts/claims of the deceased and oversee the orderly transfer of the net assets to the heirs/beneficiaries. That is it.

If there is an estate attorney then the attorney is supposed to work for the benefit of all beneficiaries of the estate as per the will. It is the attorney's job to assist the executor by making sure that the inventory & accountings are filed timely, publication of the notice to creditors is done and so on. If there is an attorney involved, then things should be handled properly I hope.

If you are a beneficiary or heir and have questions, then you need to hire your own probate attorney who practices in the county where the estate is or will be pending. That attorney can obtain a copy of the will once it is filed and can communicate with estate counsel if need be.