Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers a reader question about whether someone can be the Executor (or Personal Representative) and also the sole heir (or beneficiary) of a Will under Wisconsin law.
Transcript of Video: Can an Executor of a Will Also Be the Sole Heir of the Will?
Today's question comes from Eau Claire
Wisconsin and the writer asked can an
executor/personal representative
of a will also be the sole heir or
beneficiary so this is a great question
just to clarify in Wisconsin you've
heard the term executor of a will we
call them a personal representative
under the statute and in Wisconsin
there's nothing in the law prohibiting
the personal representative from also
being the sole heir of the estate in
fact in many situations such as an only
child
this person is often named by the
parents as the personal representative
and the sole heir there's no inherent
conflict here the only thing you would
want to avoid in this situation is that
if the you name the same person as
personal representative and heir they're
definitely interested in the estate and
they could not serve as a witness to
that will so if this was a will it's
perfectly fine to name the same person
as personal representative and as the
sole heir but they should not serve as
the witness to the will because they
would be interested in the estate so if
you have further questions about this I
suggest you talk with your estate
planning attorney and they can lay out
your options and how to go about this
and also how to execute the will in a
way that complies with the law so a
great question and thank you for asking.
© 2020 Burton Law LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office.