If a court removes an estate trustee, who takes over administering the estate in the meantime?

The estate doesn't go unmanaged just because a trustee has been removed. When a court removes an estate trustee, it typically addresses, at the same time, who takes over — either by appointing a specific replacement named in the removal order, by turning to an alternate executor the will itself named as a backup, or by appointing an independent trustee where no suitable alternate is available or appropriate.

In situations where there's likely to be an ongoing dispute — for example, if the removal itself is being contested, or a related fight over who should administer the estate is still playing out — the court can instead appoint a temporary, caretaker-style trustee to keep the estate's basic affairs managed and protected until a permanent replacement is sorted out. That temporary role is deliberately narrower than a full permanent appointment, focused on preserving the estate rather than making final, long-term decisions.

Because a removal application can leave beneficiaries anxious about a gap in who's actually looking after estate assets, it's worth raising the replacement question directly as part of the removal application itself, rather than assuming the court will automatically address it the way any particular family expects.