I have an Aunt who was POA for my Grandfather, he is now deceased. She is going to probate the will and I am curious about that process. How...

Question

I have an Aunt who was POA for my Grandfather, he is now deceased. She is going to probate the will and I am curious about that process. How will her probating the will affect her other 6 siblings? Will the 6 siblings get information on the will and be allowed to be included in this process? Also, what happens to the debt and what rights does she have as the excecutor?

Answer

Since we don't know what the will says, and that is where the answers are, and we don't know what state she was in, since you didn't tell us, and we also don't know who she named in the will as heirs or what she left (since you left that out) and we don't know her finances, there is no way to answer you. A will is a public record once probated, so get a copy from the probate court, and if you then have questions, see a lawyer in the state where she lives (not the executor's lawyer).

BTW, a POA expired when she died and has nothing at all to do with probate.

Answer

Power of attorney ended at death so your aunt cannot do anything unless she was the executor of your grandfather's will.

I don't understand your question. What do you mean? The executor's job when he/she probates a will is to figure out what your grandfather owned and what he owed, pay any just debts of his estate from his assets, and distribute whatever is left to the heirs outlined in his will. This is a simplification, but this is it in a nutshell.

Read the will to figure out who the heirs are. Then figure out what your grandfather owned and whether it consisted of probate or non-probate assets. Wills govern probate assets only. That means if your grandfather had a life insurance policy and left it to your aunt or anyone else, that person can keep the money and need not use it to pay funeral bills or other debts of the estate.

If there are enough probate assets, then all claims are paid from your grandfather's assets before anything is distributed to the heirs. If there is not enough probate assets, then claims are paid in order of priority and the heirs may or may not get anything.

The law of the state where your grandfather lived at the time of his death will govern. Usually, heirs have to be notified of the probate of the will so that they can object. If everything is done correctly, then they may not object to your aunt being the executor unless she should be disqualified for some other reason. If there are questions, then any of the heirs need to see their own probate attorney to be advised of their rights regarding probate.