How long does an administration take, Probate or non-Probate?
Estates of more than $1,500,000 with a Living Trust typically take 10-12 months to settle. If just a Will were used, Probate is very often required to settle the estate and this court process will typically take 15-20 months. In smaller estates with a Living Trust, 4-8 weeks used to be typical. Unfortunately (or fortunately), depending upon how you look at it, the California legislature passed a law requiring all trust beneficiaries and heirs of a decedent to be sent a specific notice and giving them four months (but in certain cases 6 months) to contest the trust. So now, it still generally takes 4-8 weeks to complete the substantive efforts to settle the estate, but the estate must stay open until the contest period has run its course. If Probate is required 10-14 months is fairly standard. All of this process is referred to as “Estate Administration.
