For the Last Will and Testament in NY, can the Personal Representative and the beneficiary be the same person?

Answer 1

Sure, it happens all the time. A wife can be a personal representative for her husband, a husband can be personal representative for his wife, a daughter can be personal representative for her mother, etc.

Where you get into problems are in will contests where a decedent has named a stranger or caregiver to be both a personal representative and a major recipient of a legacy from the estate. That is setting yourself up for expensive will contest litigation.