My aunt is the executor of my grandparent's will. My grandpa had recently just passed away. Everything in the will goes to grandma. My mom, who is their caregiver along with me, and also has medical and financial POA. My mom and other aunt had made sure everything was taken care of for grandma and transferred into her name. But the aunt who is the executor of the will thinks that it was her job to do it, and my mom and aunt were wrong. Although she never started doing any of it, and knew they were doing it but didn’t tell them to stop that she had to do it. But now that it’s all done and over with, she wants to say they were wrong.
Remember that bank accounts, savings, life insurance, things listed with a beneficiary pass outside of a will. Trusts are outside of a will.
Co-owned assets can sometimes just require an affidavit or death certificate. If all the assets were to go to GM and that’s who got them, then probating the will wasn’t necessary. If the will isn’t probated, then the executor isn’t needed.
In some states the will can be and maybe should still be filed regardless of whether it is probated. That’s two different things.
I wonder if your mom as POA for the beneficiary (GM) was in a position where she may have needed to act to protect GMs assets?
It doesn’t sound like she did anything criminal.
On the other hand, it’s too bad the sisters couldn’t have handled this process as a team and not created hard feelings.
Anything not jointly held or already retitled would have been the responsibility of the Executrix aunt, hopefully with an attorney's assistance to ensure it was done properly.
And disposition of assets as well as Executor/trix choice is always the decision of the testator/testatrix, to whoever he/she wants, whether it's the local animal shelter. a charity, or family. That's a main purpose of a Will, to designate assets to whoever the individual wants to have them after his/her death and to have the Will carried out by whoever the Testator/trix wants to handle his/her assets after death.
If your mother and non/executrix aunt handled everything, I think at this point the issue is more of whether or not it was done with the assistance of an attorney and done properly. There should theoretically have been communication between the executrix aunt and your mother and other aunt, but that hasn't happened.
In retrospect, I wonder why they weren't together on who should handle, but it's water over the dam now, unless something wasn't done properly. Where was the Executrix aunt when your mother and other aunt were carrying out the bequests?
Sorry, that's not what you want to hear, but talk it out and perhaps talk to the lawyer who drew up the will.
Don't let this ruin the relationship with aunt. She should have done the work, why didn't she?