How To Handle House That May/may Not Be In Probate (nyc)

Location: NYC

Hi, just looking for some general guidance with how I should proceed in the weird housing situation I’m in.

Essentially the owner of the house I’m living in died a little less than 3 years ago. In their will, the explicitly left the house to 2 people (who, minor note, hate each other). One person wants to sell the house immediately. The other wants to maintain control of it and keep it in the family, since it’s almost paid off. The person who wants to keep the house is the executor.

The executor claims they’ve started the probate process, but the other person firmly believes they haven’t. Both people agreed to let me stay in the house for now, until the fate of the house has been decided. The executor has been paying the mortgage since the passing, but has now decided they won’t pay it anymore. They have instructed me to pay it now. Up until now I was only told to pay the bills for the house, and there is no formal lease or written agreement.

Don’t know if this matters, but I am set to partially inherit the house if the other person passed? But I don’t know if that was only in the case of if they passed before the owner of the will.

Two mortgage payments have been missed, and the bank is sending warnings about foreclosure. :(

Here are my question:

- Do I need a lawyer? Knowing that’s probably yes, what kind of lawyer do I need? One in Estate planning?

- Can I be held liable in anyway for not paying the mortgage? I have not agreed to yet, verbally or written, but I did listen to the executor explain how to pay it.

- Does the executor refusing to pay the mortgage constitute as them not performing their duties, or does them telling me to do it cover that?

- If the house went into foreclosure, would that be enough to petition to change the executor? Is the lack of payments already enough?

- Does me paying the mortgage to prevent the foreclosure process now put me into some sort of informal rental agreement?

- Can the executor put off the probate indefinitely? When does it become likely that the family could successfully replace them?

Would really appreciate any advice on what to do or how to move forward, thank you!!!