Ask 2 Lawyers: If someone passes away without a Will, who becomes executor of the estate?

If someone passes away without a will who becomes executor or administrator of the estate this kind of reminds me of the movie rat race where there's a race there's a long race across the country or something like that and you got to get from point A to point B and there's a whole bunch of people that want to get to the finish line first what are your thoughts on this it is tough because if somebody is has not named an executor then there are rules for how an executor will be selected by the court so first of all there's priority and so the priority is usually the spouse first and then if no spouse then the children have no children then the parent have no parent then aunts and uncles and so there is a priority to this the court also is going to take a particular note of what the beneficiaries want so if everybody comes in as beneficiaries of this estate and they say we want steward to act as executor then the courts probably going to go along with that not that you'd want to be executives that's a thankless job but but the court is probably going to take note of that and worst case scenario if nobody can agree and nobody's nominating you're either going to get a professional trustee appointed or fiduciary to act as executor of the estate or in a lot of counties you're going to get the part public Guardian and that's kind of the executor of last resort who's gonna come in and manage that estate right Albertson and Davidson is here to help you fight for your inheritance check out Alda law calm for our complete library of helpful legal videos and articles from your favorite California trusts and we'll litigation law firm Albertson and Davidson LLP.