Question on distribution of family photos

[Ginger9708]

Question. My mom died last summer and my older brother by 12 years was executor. Before she died she gave him a bunch of photo albums which was earlier stuff from when my parents were very young, my dad in the army, and other family members. Five months after my mom died my brother passed away so I’m executor now. I guess my niece (his daughter) thinks she has the rights to these photos albums and never had the decency to ask me if I wanted them or not which I find strange. If I were in her shoes I would have given them back no question. Anyway When I saw her in March so she could come with me to probate as I had to do my moms will and she had stuff to settle with her dads estate. Anyway she was like maybe you can come over some time and scan the photos if you want. I live an hour away. More and more this is bothering me.
Question is does she have a right to these albums being they were given to my brother. Im tired of looking on Facebook and seeing a post here or there of my dad in his younger years and knowing she got the photo from those books and here I am with nothing. I guess she figured she was next in line for them without ever asking me. I know if my mom knew the outcome of all of this she would have never given my brother the books. What are my rights here regarding these albums. I do have an older daughter who I know would love these photos as well. I feel like she is the keeper of them. Do I just tell her to send them to me so I can somehow get photos of these and send them back to her or tell her I have the rights to the books and let her scramble to scan the ones she wants. I don’t even know how to scan photos. I’d like to get this resolved before I close my moms estate and checks sent to her and her siblings. What is the right thing to say

[atticus]

Contact them and arrange to have the albums copied. If you do this before final payments are made, you will have some leverage.

NB I have assumed despite your American spelling that you are in the UK. If not, I guess that the practical suggestion I have made should still apply.

[dslippy]

"Five months after my mom died my brother passed away so I’m executor now. "
Of whose estate? By virtue of what?

What you describe i your father giving these albums to your brother. They therefore came to belong to him, and are part of your now deceased brother's estate, to be distributed accordingly. If she is executor of her father's (your brother's) estate, then there is no reason why she should ask you anything. She has made reasonable offers.

Sorry.

Above all, these are photographs.\their vaslue is purely sentimental. Talk to her but on the basis not of entitlement, but of family values.