We just completed a probate case for a family with four children. In the Will, the dad appointed mom as the 1st executor and the four children as the 2nd executor. This means that if the mom passes or decides not to serve as executor, the four children will all serve as executors of the estate.
The mom is very elderly. Reasonably, she decided to withdraw from the executor’s role, because this job requires a lot of time, effort, and liability. She thought that when she gave up being the executor, she could appoint the next executor. She wanted her oldest son, whom she deemed most reliable, to be the sole executor.
Unfortunately, this is not up to her. What we honour is the deceased dad’s wishes, not her wishes. Since he clearly stated in his Will that he wanted all four children to be secondary executors, we cannot just let the son be the only executor. Unless all three sisters sign to waive their right to serve as executors.
After much debate and consultations with other lawyers, the three daughters decided to renounce their right to serve as executors and have their brother take on this role alone. But if this were a different situation, where even one sister didn’t want to renounce, then the family would be stuck in a stalemate. The brother and sister would need to act together throughout the estate administration process and likely disagree at every step.
This would have been avoided if the dad had done better estate planning. He should have considered each executor candidate’s ability and personality, and thought about how to maintain the general harmony of his family. If he had chosen the mom as 1st executor, the oldest son as 2nd executor, and all 3 sisters as 3rd executor, this stalemate would not have happened.
Luckily, after the sisters learned about the heavy workload, high liabilities, and risks of being an executor, they chose their brother to take on this role. We successfully completed probate before the bank initiated a power of sale on the estate property. This preserved the family’s inheritance and ensured its successful distribution among all members.
