What is Probate?
Probate is a judicial procedure by which the Estate of a deceased person is evaluated and accounted for. In a Testate Estate (one in which the decedent left a Last Will and Testament), Probate consists of determining where and how the assets of the Estate pass in accordance with the instructions left in the Will. A Will usually gives specific directions as to where and to whom assets will go. A Will also names an Executor or Personal Representative to oversee management of the Estate. The Executor generally hires an Attorney to help with the filing of legal documents and the management of Estate assets, both for the Attorney’s technical expertise and because Executors are usually too involved with their own day-to-day lives to expend the necessary time and energy in Estate asset management. In an Intestate Estate (one in which the decedent left no Will), a close relative usually petitions the Court to be named Executor. The Court may require the Executor-designate to submit to backgrou
Probate is the process that transfers legal title of property from the estate of the person who has died (the “decedent”) to his or her proper beneficiaries. The term “probate” refers to a “proving” of the existence of a valid Will, or determining and “proving” who one’s legal heirs are if there is no Will. Since the deceased can’t take it with him, probate is the process used to determine who gets his or her property.
Probate is the court proceeding to transfer a dead persons assets to the people who are supposed to get them. Simple in concept, but humbug in practice. Probate can easily take a year or more to complete, and the attorneys fees and other costs associated with probate could easily eat up 5% of a decedents gross estate. (Decedent is lawyer talk for someone who has assumed room temperaturei.e., a dead person.) If a decedent owned assets located in more than one state or country, it may be necessary to have a probate in each jurisdiction in which assets are located. If one probate is bad, you can bet that more than one probate is worse. In almost every case, probate is an awfully good thing to avoid.
Probate is a legal process that takes place after someone dies. It includes: • proving in court that a deceased person’s will is valid (usually a routine matter) • identifying and inventorying the deceased person’s property • having the property appraised • paying debts and taxes, and • distributing the remaining property as the will (or state law, if there’s no will) directs. Typically, probate involves paperwork and court appearances by lawyers. The lawyers and court fees are paid from estate property, which would otherwise go to the people who inherit the deceased person’s property.
