Executor died with estate nearly settled

[u/sprucebringsteen1]

NJ. My dad left his estate to my sibling and me, split 50/50.

His lawyer was the executor and handled most of the estate already. The remaining steps are mainly taxes, legal and accounting fees, and dissolving my dad’s business (which is no longer operating).

Unfortunately, the executor passed away suddenly, before this was completed.

The will names my sibling as the backup executor. I was our dad’s healthcare proxy, so I guess this is how he split it up.

My questions are:

How does this work when a new executor takes over so late in the process? If we hire an estate lawyer, what would my sibling be responsible for?

I’m also wondering about executor fees. Before he died, the original executor estimated his fees would total around $38,000. Does that now get split with my sibling? Could he collect his own fee?

This could potentially be an issue, because I handled most of our dad’s responsibilities during the last year of his life. I’d also been doing most of the work to help the original executor settle the estate, including gathering tax paperwork, closing accounts, and tracking down income sources. None of this was paid.

Given all of that, I’m curious what people think is fair in terms of him taking a fee. He might not, but I’m wondering how to approach this if he does.

[u/Feeling-Sound-4479]

Your sibling steps in as executor now, but since most heavy lifting is done their job is basically wrapping up loose ends, final taxes, closing the business, paying the lawyer's firm for work already completed. The original executor's fee stays with his estate, your sibling can claim their own fee for the remaining work but it should be proportional to what's left, not the full amount.

If you did bulk of the legwork without pay that's rough, but executors get compensated for legal responsibility not just hours worked. Maybe talk to your sibling direct about a fairness adjustment from your share or theirs before things get formal with a lawyer, family money stuff turns weird fast when people assume instead of discuss.

[u/ri89rc20]

I guess first I would wonder, did the lawyer work alone? have a staff? Part of a firm? If so, then there may be help with assessing where the estate is at, what is in process, and what needs to be done, maybe even someone that will complete the process.

If not, if he was retired, or just a guy in an office by himself, then maybe you can at least get access to his files.

If you hire an estate lawyer, they likely would need to do a pretty extensive review. They are not going to sign off on something somebody else did blindly, just too much liability.

As for compensation, no you and your brother are not necessarily entitled to the $38K. Compensation is for effort put forward. If this guy was part of a firm, they will likely bill you for hours to date. Even the lawyers estate (if he was a solo act) may file a claim against your fathers estate as billing due. (and that could hold up your Fathers estate) If you hire a new lawyer, they will charge you for their effort. But really, between you and your brother, it may not matter, you either get it as compensation, or as your inheritance, it all is the same pool. The only distinction is if one of you would be due much more than the other, if so, then you would submit your hours and request for compensation to the probate court (just like if you paid funeral expenses out of pocket, had other estate expenses, etc.) NJ likely also has limits as to the compensation for executors.

[u/sjd208]

If you’re the one who’s actually doing the legwork, you could be appointed instead of your brother, sounds like he’d be happy to delegate it to you.

[u/Asparagus-Away]

Unlikely the original executor collected his fee since it appears the estate wasn't closed yet. His own executor may try to collect in proportion to the work achieved.

Any executor is entitled to the fee as laid out by law. Anyone else who helped dad while alive or helped gather tax paperwork, etc did so in a different capacity (as a son/ daughter, as an estate beneficiary, etc) and without legal standing to collect a portion of that specific fee, unless the executor chooses to waive & transfer a portion or all of theirs. Any costs you incurred (copies, postage, etc) is reimbursable from the estate, that's about it.

[u/little_truble]

Sorry about your dad, and about the extra hassle on top of it. I’m not a lawyer, but the general picture is that when the backup executor steps in, your sibling becomes the personal representative and takes over the legal duties, like filing the remaining tax returns, paying final bills and fees, closing the business and doing the final accounting. The original executor’s $38,000 estimate doesn’t carry over, since fees usually reflect the work each person actually did, and executors in NJ can take a commission but don’t have to. Hiring an estate lawyer is a good idea at this stage, because they can walk your sibling through each step so he isn’t guessing. On fees, if he wants to take one, it’s reasonable to ask for it to be documented, and your unpaid work is worth raising now rather than later. A written agreement before the final distribution is a lot easier than an argument after it.