Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Virginia

Re: Will, etc.

A POA means nothing once the principal has become deceased. What matters now would appear to be who the will has designated as executor of the grandmother's estate and whether this person has applied to the local probate court for letters of administration to be officially appointed in this capacity by the court.

If your husband does not have a copy of the will, he should request a copy from his sister.

Re: Will, etc.

The Power of Attorney means nothing after death. Your husband should probably send her a note politiely pointing this out. A power of attorney expires at death.

The person who is executor (Administrator) of the estate is responsible to make a comlete inventory, which must be filed with the Commissioner of Account. Your husband has a right to see it and to challenge its accuracy.

If the sister has NOT submitted the will to the Clerk of the Court, probate division, and applied to be Administrator (Executor), but is delaying unreasonably, and you have a copy of the will, your husband could go to the Court and apply to be executor.

Whomever the will names should be executor. HOWEVER, no one can be forced to be executor against their will. We don't have slavery. So if someone is refusing to submit teh will to become executor, there comes a point when they are abandoning their position as executor. Someone else has to do it.

If she is the executor, then she has a legal obligation to file a report with the Commissioner of Accounts showin all of the grandmother's assets, which you can see. Your husband can inform the Commissioner if you are aware of any other assets. You could even go to Court to require her to fulfill her duties.

For anyone to take property of a deceased person without the authority of being the executor is technically stealing as serious as knocking over a liquour store. Only the duly-appointed executor (Administrator) has any authority over the deceased person's property. (The POA is meaningless). And the executor is legally accountable to all fo the heirs to provide all information about the estate.