PART 4. 
FORMAL TESTACY AND APPOINTMENT PROCEEDINGS



 



§560:3-401  Formal testacy proceedings;
nature; when commenced.  (a)  A formal testacy proceeding is litigation to
determine whether a decedent left a valid will.  A formal testacy proceeding
may be commenced by an interested person filing a petition as described in
section 560:3-402(a) in which the person requests that the court, after notice
and hearing, enter an order probating a will, or a petition to set aside an
informal probate of a will or to prevent informal probate of a will which is
the subject of a pending application, or a petition in accordance with section
560:3-402(b) for an order that the decedent died intestate.



(b)  A petition may seek formal probate of a
will without regard to whether the same or a conflicting will has been
informally probated.  A formal testacy proceeding may, but need not, involve a
request for appointment of a personal representative.



(c)  During the pendency of a formal testacy
proceeding, the registrar shall not act upon any application for informal
probate of any will of the decedent or any application for informal appointment
of a personal representative of the decedent.



(d)  Unless a petition in a formal testacy
proceeding also requests confirmation of the previous informal appointment, a
previously appointed personal representative, after receipt of notice of the
commencement of a formal probate proceeding, must refrain from exercising the
personal representative's power to make any further distribution of the estate
during the pendency of the formal proceeding.  A petitioner who seeks the
appointment of a different personal representative in a formal proceeding also
may request an order restraining the acting personal representative from
exercising any of the powers of the personal representative's office and
requesting the appointment of a special administrator.  In the absence of a
request, or if the request is denied, the commencement of a formal proceeding
has no effect on the powers and duties of a previously appointed personal
representative other than those relating to distribution. [L 1996, c 288, pt of
§1]