What an Executor Cannot Do in California

An executor has real authority, and it has hard limits. Most family conflict in probate comes from an executor doing something they believed was within their power and was not.

An executor cannot decide who gets what

This is the biggest one. The executor carries out the will, or where there is no will, the intestate succession rules in Prob. Code § 6400 and following. They do not have discretion to reward the child who helped, reduce the one who did not, or divide things in a way they consider fairer. If the will says equal shares, the shares are equal.

An executor also cannot change beneficiaries, rewrite terms, or ignore a gift they think is unwise.

An executor cannot act before the court appoints them

Being named in the will is not appointment. Authority begins when the court issues letters. Anything done before that carries personal exposure.

Related and very common: an agent under a power of attorney cannot keep acting after the death. That authority ends at death, completely.

An executor cannot self-deal

They cannot sell estate property to themselves, to a relative, or to a business they hold an interest in, without the protections the law requires. They cannot borrow from the estate, use estate funds personally, or take compensation beyond what is authorized.

Compensation is statutory. Prob. Code § 10800 sets the personal representative’s ordinary compensation on the same sliding scale that governs the attorney’s fee under § 10810. Extraordinary services require court approval.

An executor cannot ignore beneficiaries

Beneficiaries are entitled to information and to an accounting. An executor who stops responding is not merely being difficult; they are building the record for their own removal.

An executor cannot distribute whenever they like

Creditor claim periods and administration requirements come first. Distributing early can leave the executor personally liable if claims come in afterward. Beneficiaries pushing for early distribution are asking the executor to take a risk that lands on the executor.

How long does the executor have to pay the beneficiaries?

There is no single number, but there is a real deadline on the administration. California expects the personal representative to petition for final distribution or file a status report within roughly a year of letters issuing, extended where a federal estate tax return is required. Blowing through that without explanation is itself a basis for court intervention.

Practically, a straightforward California probate commonly runs about a year, and often longer. What matters more than the calendar is whether the executor can explain the delay. Waiting on a creditor period, a property sale, or a tax clearance is an answer. Silence is not.

What to do about it

Ask for an accounting in writing first. Most problems are disorganization rather than dishonesty, and a written request often resolves them or creates the record you will need.

Where property has actually been taken in bad faith, through undue influence in bad faith, or by elder or dependent adult financial abuse, Prob. Code § 859 allows recovery of twice its value plus attorney’s fees in the court’s discretion. See trust and probate litigation.