Advice For Executors: Know Your Rights When It Comes To Probating The Will

A good executor wants to respect the Deceased's wishes. But when it comes to the choice of lawyer, the Deceased's wishes shouldn't carry the day. Many executors mistakenly think that the lawyer whom the Deceased hired to draft the Will should be the one to "probate" it (i.e., submit it to court along with an application for a Certificate of Appointment of Estate Trustee). And unfortunately, some lawyers seem to make the same assumption, and hold themselves out as effectively already hired for the job.

That assumption is especially common when the drafting lawyer has been storing the Will in the meantime, and the executor needs to contact them to get the original. Rather than releasing the Will, sometimes the lawyer starts discussing the content and timing of a probate application, as though they own the Will or have some right to be hired for the job of probating it. While this may be inadvertent, it leads to unfairness. The client does not realize they have a