Executor of estate is dragging feet on estate and paying beneficiaries. Can anything legal be done? Simple estate- 1 1/2 yrs..?

Dragging their feet or finding it hard to execute the estate? Executors are generally not professionals ( although they do get paid to do the job) it can be a difficult job with beneficiaries just demanding they get what they have been left, however the job is more than that and everything else legally comes before that.

Issues can be some people write a Will giving out money they don't have or possessions that have long been given away, they are duty bound to find assets and get those assets, so bonds, bank accounts, sale of property etc, they have to pay all and any debts first, then and only then any fixed amounts/named goods are given first before other people get anything. Nothing stops you contacting and asking what stage the execution is at and for a timeline.

1 1/2 years is not that unusual. My mother's estate took 3 years to settle. The executor has to first pay all the estate's debts. If there is not a lot of cash, this may mean liquidating assets which triggers new tax issues that have to be sorted out. Get in touch and see if they can give you a time frame. Sometimes a partial distribution can be made before the remainder is known.

the beneficiaries can band together and as a group demand the executor get busy and finish the estate

in fact the final return has to be filed within a specific amount of time, or there can be penalties that the estate will have to pay, limiting the amount the beneficiaries will get

You might be wise to collaborate with the estate lawyer who is working with

the executor, to find out the delay. If you are a beneficiary. Settling Probate

can take longer than expected. If there are any stocks,bonds or mutual funds.

that is a whole nother ballgame.

Contact the Probate office for advice. There is a time limit.

That isn't slow at all, there is a lot to do before disseminating funds to the heirs...

Consult with a lawyer. Nobody can tell from what little you wrote.