Insights
Probate: The Process of Honoring Final Wishes
A loved ones’ passing is difficult enough, navigating the legal system while you are grieving can feel overwhelming. I am here to help navigate.
Probate is the formal, possibly court supervised, legal process of administering a deceased persons estate. This process includes, validating a Will if there is one, identifying all the assets and information, debt settlement and asset distribution. If there is no Will, the estate is said to be “Intestate” and the state where the person passes has laws about distributing the assets. If there is a Will, the estate is called “Testate.” The Probate Court will review the original Will to determine if it is valid. If the will is not valid, the Probate Court will distribute the estate as if there is no Will.
What makes a Will valid is that it follows all the procedures to be considered a Will by the state where the person passed away. If the Will is straight forward, and the court determines it is valid, the court may allow for an unsupervised probate, which means the court is allowing the executor or personal representative to do their tasks without the court reviewing every decision. A Formal Probate means the court is going to be very involved in a variety of decisions.
Once probate is open, the court will issue an order for Letters Testamentary or, Letters of Administration, if there is no Will. These Letters tell the world that the court has granted the person holding the letters to be the Personal Representative (PR), the Executor, or Administrator, which bestows the legal authority to act on behalf of the estate. This is necessary to get access to bank accounts, tax forms and medical records.
The PR/Administrator has a variety of tasks they are legally required to accomplish including, opening the estate, sending notice to interested parties including and debts, collecting all the assets and creating an inventory, paying valid debts and taxes, distribution of assets, and, finally closing the estate.
This process typically takes from six months to one year, but complex estates can take longer.
I Don’t Have an Estate, Do I?
Yes—you do have an estate, even if you don’t own a house, land, stocks, gold, or a lot of wealth.
While you are living, an estate is all your stuff; what you have and what you owe. What would that include? Bank accounts (in your name and possibly jointly held). Your treasures like furniture, jewelry, computer stuff, clothes, and vehicles. Any investments such as stocks or CDs, or even cryptocurrency. Or you have retirement accounts you created like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or Roth IRA, or were a part of your pay package like a 401k program, Thrift Savings Plan or 403(b) plans. Or you might have life insurance you bought or that comes from your company. That is all the good stuff. Your estate also includes any debts you may have such as a mortgage, credit card bills and medical bills.
When you pass on, an estate is simply everything you own and everything you owe at the time of your death. All of the above, could be a part of your estate. So even if your estate is modest—say, just a checking account and some personal items—you technically do have one.
When you pass on, there is a process, called Probate, the courts use to ensure that any debts are paid and your stuff is distributed. There is a process called Probate, filed with a Probate Court, but not all estates will go through probate.
I’ll explain that process in my next Insight.
I Don’t Have an Estate, Do I?
Yes—you do have an estate, even if you don’t own a house, land, stocks, gold, or a lot of wealth.
While you are living, an estate is all your stuff; what you have and what you owe. What would that include? Bank accounts (in your name and possibly jointly held). Your treasures like furniture, jewelry, computer stuff, clothes, and vehicles. Any investments such as stocks or CDs, or even cryptocurrency. Or you have retirement accounts you created like an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or Roth IRA, or were a part of your pay package like a 401k program, Thrift Savings Plan or 403(b) plans. Or you might have life insurance you bought or that comes from your company. That is all the good stuff. Your estate also includes any debts you may have such as a mortgage, credit card bills and medical bills.
When you pass on, an estate is simply everything you own and everything you owe at the time of your death. All of the above, could be a part of your estate. So even if your estate is modest—say, just a checking account and some personal items—you technically do have one.
When you pass on, there is a process, called Probate, the courts use to ensure that any debts are paid and your stuff is distributed. There is a process called Probate, filed with a Probate Court, but not all estates will go through probate.
I’ll explain that process in my next Insight.