My father passed away in November 2010 and named his fiance as executor of his estate. I got a notice from her attorney today that they have a court hearing in a couple weeks for a "letter of special administration". What exactly is that? My stepsister is the successor trustee and has been handling everything with the estate up until now.
Answer
One of the problems that a potential executor sometimes encounters is that the potential executor contacts a bank where the decedent has an account and the bank says, "We can't tell you anything until you are appointed as executor by the a court." But, there are different probate procedures depending on the size of the estate. So now the potential executor has a problem: Which probate procedure to start without knowing the size of the estate?
One solution is for the potential executor to do a special administration which lets the potential executor get a document from the court which will authorize the bank to disclose the assets so the potential executor can size up the estate and then know which probate procedure to do.
I can't tell from your post if this is what is going on in your case, but it may well be.
Answer
An executor handles administration of Probate. Your question also states that your step-sister is the successor trustee for some sort of trust. It is unclear whether your father had some assets that are in a trust and some assets outside of a trust that would require Probate administration. An attorney would need to review a copy of the will (which should be filed with the Court) and a copy of the trust (assuming you are even a beneficiary under the trust) to provide a clear answer to your questions. Given that there is a hearing pending, I urge you to hire an attorney as soon as possible to protect your rights.
Answer
I agree with Mr. Feldman.
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