2006 Massachusetts Code - Section 11. Removal of executor or administrator; replacement.

Section 11. If an executor or administrator becomes insane or otherwise incapable of performing the trust, or is unsuitable therefor, or if an executor or administrator who resides out of the commonwealth, having been duly cited by the probate court, neglects to render his accounts and to settle the estate, the probate court may remove him; and thereupon the other executor or administrator, if any, may proceed in performing the trust as if the one removed were dead or, if there is no other executor or administrator, the court may appoint an administrator as provided in section nine of chapter one hundred and ninety-three. The court, upon such notice as it considers reasonable, may, if the petition for removal contains a prayer therefor, appoint a suitable person who is not under indictment for, or has not been convicted of, murder in the first or second degree, or manslaughter, or accessory before the fact of such crimes against the deceased to fill the vacancy caused by such removal, without the filing of a separate petition for that purpose.

If an executor or administrator is indicted for, or convicted of, murder in the first or second degree, or manslaughter, or accessory before the fact of such crimes, against the deceased, the executor or administrator shall not be eligible to serve as executor or administrator of the deceased’s estate, and the probate court shall remove him immediately as such from the point of indictment or conviction, whichever occurs first. The court shall appoint a suitable person to act as executor or administrator.