[wallabee4]

If personal property of the deceased (incapacitated) was sold before death at direction of the soon-to-be executor (who was also power of attorney) and who was also aware of a will that had an 8-way equal split of all assets and said executor took several heirloom type items to keep--whether by agreement with deceased is unknown as she was incapacitated--so that after death there were no personal property assets to divide and none of the cash raised by sale is accounted for as it (supposedly) went to pay bills before death, does executor have any liability to the 8 beneficiaries (of which the executor is one of the 8)? Further, I note that neither law office nor executor notified any of the 7 heirs that they were named as heirs until now 9 months post death and 7 months post personal representative becoming official. The law office says it was their error and nothing else.

[joypulv]

POA comes with a checklist of powers, so you need a copy of it. That may end all questions, if this person had full powers to sell, spend, and make decisions.

POA ends at death, and then the siblings are supposed to sign a form agreeing to the appointment of the executor, even if it was specified in the will. So you have a case against the law firm handling the will. You are probably going to have to hire a lawyer to get details of what transpired before death, and you may spend money on the lawyer that will get you nothing. You are entitled to see what the details of probate are. Do you have a copy of the will yet?

Ordinarily a will won't specify a list of heirlooms, but it might. Usually the executor is required to make a list of assets and work out their sale, or division with heirs that is agreeable. But since they were sold before death, it's all hinging on what the powers were in the POA.

[ScottGem]

If the executor was aware of the terms of the will and acted to remove assets that would have become part of the estate and this can be proven, then there may be charges that can be pressed against the executor. But its going to be hard to prove malfeasance here.

[twinkiedooter]

During the probate portion of any estate a detailed inventory is taken of the assets and debts at the time of the deceased. You are entiled to see a complete inventory that was provided to the probate judge. You can go in person to the clerk of Probate and get a copy if the attorney handling the probate denies you a copy of this. If you can prove that the executor of the estate sold or disposed of the items after the death of the person that are not contained in the inventory proffered to the court, then you can petition the probate court for the return of these items or the money received for the disposal of these items. A good probate attorney is your best bet here to help you and your siblings.