What is involved in petitioning a court to be named executor of a family estate?

This is not an uncommon situation.  I have helped people with this very situation.  In fact, in one case not only had the Executor died but so did the original estate attorney.  What you will need to do is to Petition the Register of Wills/Clerk of Orphans Court in the county where probate occurred to be appointed successor to the now deceased Executor.  If successful you will be granted what are called Letters of Administration d.b.n. and that will prove to NJDUP that you areentitled to act on behalf of the estate.  Caution:  by collecting these funds you could trigger an additional probate fee plus additional PA Inheritance Tax.  There are a lot of moving parts to these situations - you probably want to find a probate attorney in your area.  Either search the Find a Lawyer section here on Lawyers.com or contact your county bar association.