What exactly is probate?
The term “probate” means the process of legally establishing the validity of a Will. Every state gives its citizens the right to transfer property during life or upon death to whomever they wish. For gifts made during one’s lifetime, there is little need to validate the gifts because the donor is fully able to do that on his or her own. However, for transfers taking place upon death, the donor (i.e., the decedent) is no longer able to say who should get his or her property. That opens the door for many unscrupulous individuals to lay claim to the property through all kinds of cockamamie stories, none of which can be proved or disproved very readily. Here’s a simple example that happens all the time – assume that Bill dies. Jim, the next door neighbor walks in and claims Bill’s golf clubs, saying that Bill promised the golf clubs to him if he died. There’s no way to know if Jim is telling the truth because Bill can no longer speak for himself. In order to provide for an orderly transfer
