Short answer. No. When some named executors cannot act, whether through incompetency, refusal of the trust, or failure to give bond, letters testamentary may still issue to whichever of them are competent, accept, and post bond, and they may carry out the will's duties.

What the law says

When all of the executors named in a will can not act because of incompetency, refusal to accept the trust, or failure to give bond, on the part of one or more of them, letters testamentary may issue to such of them as are competent, accept and give bond, and they may perform the duties and discharge the trust required by the will.

Rule 78, Section 5 — Where some coexecutors disqualified others may act. Read the full provision →

One disqualified executor doesn't sink the rest

A will naming several co-executors does not fail simply because one of them cannot serve. Letters testamentary can still issue to whichever named executors remain competent, accept the trust, and post bond, letting the estate move forward through the qualifying co-executors rather than stalling on account of the one who cannot act. This keeps a single uncooperative or disqualified nominee from holding up administration of the entire estate.

Three reasons an executor might be excluded

The rule covers incompetency, outright refusal to accept the trust, and failure to give the required bond as the three ways a named executor can end up excluded, treating all three the same way for purposes of letting the remaining, qualified co-executors proceed with settling the estate without waiting for the excluded one to resolve their own disqualification, refusal, or bonding failure first, however long that resolution might take.

The qualifying ones carry the full trust

Those co-executors who are competent, who accept, and who post bond may perform the full duties and discharge the entire trust the will requires, exercising the same authority the complete slate of named executors would have exercised had every one of them been able and willing to serve from the start. The excluded co-executor's absence does not shrink the scope of what the remaining executors are empowered to do.

What happens to the excluded executor's role

Nothing in this section permanently locks the excluded co-executor out forever if the underlying problem is later cured — someone who initially failed to give bond, for example, could potentially still qualify later if the will and the circumstances allow it. The section's focus is simply on not letting one person's incompetency, refusal, or bonding failure freeze administration of the entire estate while that particular issue remains unresolved between the parties and the court. This section addresses only what happens to the excluded executor's authority; it does not by itself resolve disputes among the qualifying co-executors over how to jointly manage the estate, which remain governed by the ordinary rules on how multiple executors or administrators are expected to act together.

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.