And the #1 rule, never, ever, never-ever have more than one (1) personal representative (estate administrator), this creates more problems, power grabs, out of control issues than you can imagine. Everyone thinks this is the more fair way to do things but it is the worst mistake to make. Imagine 4 Generals and no troops that’s what happens.
Walked into a “family” meeting one night to list a house and the four administrators (all siblings - 2 male and 2 female) in 4 corners of the kitchen, NOT TALKING! I have had 2 sisters rolling on the ground fighting (from a very upstanding family) or at least I thought so.
Sorry, I could go on and on and on.............
The wife is in Probate law. The stories.......good Lord, the stories.
QFT and wisdom -- BTDT with only one small blowup between my cousin and me but there were also some lingering resentments over some of the distributions in my uncle's will. The worst thing was it could have all been avoided with a trust (as I advocated and my cousin opposed) while saving about $30k for the estate. OTOH, the distribution of household "stuff" (as well as the house itself) was well-handled because we had agreed very early on that there would be an auction where family members could be bidders to buy what they desired. The money was coming back to them anyway. Few showed up...I was mildly surprised.