This question should give all of us food for thought. None of the advice offered is conclusive. A person may name an executor but may not have told the executor that he/she was appointed etc. In Ireland many properties go into legal limbo in such situations. It is not unknown for unsrupulous insiders to "sort out" such situations to their own benefit resulting in family feuds.
The lesson for all of us is 1. Make a will, 2. Tell EVERYONE where it is, 3. Tell the executor and 4. since any or all of the above could pre-decease you, 5. Review your will Annually. Do we do it? Naa!