Short answer. Yes. Any interested person may put in writing the grounds why letters testamentary should not issue to the executor named in the will, and the court will pass on the sufficiency of those grounds after a hearing on notice to the parties involved.

What the law says

Any person interested in a will may state in writing the grounds why letters testamentary should not issue to the persons named therein as executors, or any of them, and the court, after hearing upon notice, shall pass upon the sufficiency of such grounds. A petition may, at the same time, be filed for letters of administration with the will annexed.

Rule 79, Section 1 — Opposition to issuance of letters testamentary. Simultaneous petition for administration. Read the full provision →

Opposition must be grounded, not just objected

Being named executor in a will does not guarantee an unopposed path to letters testamentary. Any person interested in the will may state, in writing, the specific grounds why letters should not issue to the named executor or executors, giving the objection a concrete basis the court can evaluate rather than a bare preference. A bare statement that the opposing heir simply dislikes or distrusts the named executor, without pointing to a concrete disqualifying circumstance, is not enough to satisfy the requirement, since the rule requires the grounds to be reduced to writing and put before the court for genuine evaluation, not merely voiced as an informal complaint.

A hearing before letters issue

The court does not simply accept or reject the opposition on the papers alone. It holds a hearing upon notice to the interested parties and then passes on whether the grounds raised are sufficient, before deciding whether letters testamentary should actually issue to the person named in the will, giving both sides a real chance to be heard on the objection, and neither the named executor nor the objecting party is left to guess how the court arrived at its conclusion once the hearing concludes.

Filing for administration at the same time

The rule also lets the opposing party move forward proactively: a petition for letters of administration with the will annexed may be filed at the same time as the opposition, so the case for who should administer the estate instead is already before the court if the opposition against the named executor ultimately succeeds. This avoids a two-step delay where the opposing party would otherwise have to wait for the opposition to be resolved before even beginning the separate process of asking to be appointed administrator, letting both questions — whether the named executor should serve, and who should serve instead if not — proceed together before the same court.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.