Responsibilities of the Personal Representative, Administrator or Probate Executor

The personal representative, also referred to as the probate executor if there is a will, or the administrator if there is not a will, is appointed as part of the probate proceeding and has the responsibility for managing the estate through the proceeding subject to established probate rules and procedures.

The probate executor is nominated in the will. If there is no will, or if all the executors who are nominated have died or unwilling to serve as the probate executor, state law provides that the decedent’s closest relatives have the highest priority to become administrator of the estate.

Keep in mind that the probate court has a considerable amount of control over the activities of the personal representative, and requires that she or he obtained prior permission of the court before certain actions such as the sale of the real estate owned by the estate.

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