Executor of will
I strongly doubt that being executor will make the assets of the estate vulnerable to a suit against him personally. The estate is it's own separate legal entity with its own TIN. Only creditors against the estate itself can make claims against it and after all creditors are paid, then the balance is distributed in accordance with the terms of the will. Unless he has commingled assets and treated estate assets as his own, the legal separation should be quite strong.  Whether his personal assets are at risk, remember that the opposition will likely overstate their case to try to scare him into settling. If the business was organized as an LLP or LLC, his personal assets should be pretty safe. If it was a sole proprietorship, he has occasion to worry. The creditors will not be able to go after his father's estate (assuming the father had nothing to do with the business), but at some point, the estate will be divided up. At that point, any money or assets that your husband inherits will be fair game, as they are now your husband's money or assets. I want to be clear; it's nothing to do with your husband being executor (or co-executor) of the estate. This does not contradict zeta-band's earlier answer; Zeta-band is talking about the estate before it is divided up, I'm just pointing out that there may be issues after it is divided up.
If your sister paid rent, she was a tenant. There are laws to protect tenants, but those depend on what country, state, and city you live in. In most places in the US (maybe all), she was owed more than 2 days notice. Normally, the local housing authority could help her figure out what her rights are, but since this already happened, they may not be able to do much (depends on the local laws). It's worth asking them anyway. I don't know how partial ownership of the property would affect things if your sister was a partial owner. If the 30 year old will was the most recent document, then that's how the estate will be distributed. There are no laws in the US requiring a will to be fair. An executor's role is to carry out the will. Being an executor does not mean one can choose to unilaterally sell the property in the estate without permission of other heirs. You'll need to speak with a lawyer if you think they're breaking the will by selling property that you have partial ownership of. But since the sale is already done, reversing it would be slow and probably very expensive in legal fees. If it's a small estate, you'll have to judge whether a lawyer is worth the money and the family's animosity. Also, if the estate had debt, debt must be paid before property is distributed to the heirs, so that could also change what your sisters had to do.  I'd suggest first asking your sisters to tell  you about what they've done to execute the will, and what they do in the future. "If the person has prepared (""put your affairs in order"") then they will have a will and an executor. And this executor will have a list of the life insurance policies and will contact the companies to arrange payouts to the beneficiaries. It's not really the beneficiary's job to do that. If the person hasn't made a list of their policies, but has a will and an executor, then the executor can try things like looking at recently paid bills (you're sending $100 a month to ""Friendly Life Insurance Company""? Bet it's a life insurance policy) or paperwork that is in the person's home or their safety deposit boxes. Even if you don't have the key to those boxes, a copy of the will and the death certificate will get the box drilled out for you. If you don't know what bank they might have SD boxes at, again your paperwork will get the manager to find out for you if there is a box at that particular branch, so a day spent visiting branches can be fruitful. (Something I know from personal experience with someone whose affairs were nowhere near in order.) Generally you find out you're a beneficiary of a will because the executor tells you. I suppose it's possible that a person might name you beneficiary of their life insurance without telling you or anyone else, and without writing a will, but it's pretty unlikely. If you're worried, I suggest you encourage your parents, grandparents, and other likely namers of you to write up some paperwork and keep it somewhere family is likely to find it. (Not hidden inside a book on a bookcase or in the back of the wool cupboard.)" Since there's no taxable income (inheritance is not taxed to you), you do not need to amend. The executor used the correct form. Note, I'm not a tax adviser or a licensed professional. For a tax advice advice contact a CPA/EA licensed in your state. "TLDR:  There are no to few monetary downsides. The process of settling an estate is called probate.  Creditors can make claims against the estate, and assets should stand to pay any debts.  If more debts are owed then assets, the beneficiaries are not held liable.  Final expenses are usually the first amount paid out in full.  So if the estate only contains enough assets to pay final expenses, then the creditors receive nothing.  Usually creditors are paid pro-rated if there is not enough to cover debts. For the record, the probate process is greatly simplified if one has a will.  Get a will if you don't have one. Life insurance is a bit different though.  It passes directly to the beneficiaries and depending on the state could be untouchable by creditors. The same thing could also happen with retirements accounts.   With 401K accounts, you could take some of it out, and pay tax on that.  You could also roll it into your own account. Property receives a really good benefit.  While it does pass through probate the cost basis of real estate is reestablished at the time of death.  So if grandpa bought a house for 30K in the 40's, and it is now worth 120K.  You inherit a 120K piece of property and when you sell you use 120K as your cost basis not 30K.   Any estate taxes are typically paid by the state, not technically the heirs.  If there is a 5% estate tax and they are to inherit 100K, they will only receive 95K.  They will not receive 100K then be expected to be paid 5K.  ""Electrically"" the same, but a large difference in responsibility. The biggest downside is if you have a will fight on your hands.  If someone disputes the validity of the will that can incur a lot of legal fees.  For small estates, it may not be worth the fight.   The next is if any assets do go through probate.  The process is lengthy and depending on the executor, they could reduce the size of the estate for charging for their time." Nice burn job. This guy got over big time. I wonder if he will retire for good or just transfer to another firm and run the burn again? It's not like he or any of them will ever face any penalties for it. Must be good to be King. "Life insurance is not required to be used to pay the debts of the estate. Life insurance proceeds are not part of your estate. They go   directly to the beneficiary, and are their property.  Your daughter   can do whatever she wants with the proceeds. She can pay off your credit cards if she wants, but she doesn’t have   to, even if your will said she should use the insurance money to pay   your debts. If that’s what you really want, you should make your   estate—not your daughter—the beneficiary of your insurance policies.   Then, the proceeds will become part of your estate, so they’d be   available to repay your debts. Source ... if the deceased owned life insurance and nominated a beneficiary   of the policy, the proceeds of that policy would not pass into the   deceased's estate, but would go directly to the nominated beneficiary Source The amount of the life insurance is included in the estate for the purpose of calculating estate tax, but not for the purpose of debt repayment. The estate for the purpose of estate tax is called the ""Gross estate"" and includes many things that are not included in a ""probate"" estate.  Source" The one whose order gets to the exchange first. The exchange receives the orders and arranges them in First-In-First-Out order, by which they're then executed. At some point it is synchronized and put into a list. Whoever gets to that point first - gets the deal. I have inherited property worth close to 1 million US Dollars. 1 Million USD is a large amount considering Bangladesh. Around 80 Million Taka; making someone with this amount amongst the high net worth individual. Check if this is not a scam as indicated in comments.  What is the proper procedure for him to send me the money to US? As per Bangladesh Foreign Exchange Regulation Act; there are limitations to transfer of funds outside of Bangladesh. Read the detail guideline, section 11 Private Remittance is relevant. However your specific case is not detailed. A professional help is advised as there would be paperwork required. What are our legal and tax obligations? Tax obligations in US, as indicated by Michael in his answer.