Ensuring a Smooth Probate for Your Loved One’s Estate
Probate is the court supervised process that takes place when someone passes away. Additionally, probate may be required even if the person who died had a will. If there was a will, the person appointed to carry out the deceased’s wishes is called the executor or executrix. If there was not a will, a person can petition the court to be appointed as the administrator of the estate. Whether someone is the executor or the administrator, they have certain obligations that must be followed.
When is probate required?
Probate is usually required if the estate exceeds a certain value or includes real estate. The estate includes assets the decedent owned solely. However, it does not include assets with a designated beneficiary, such as a life insurance policy.
What if someone is asking for letters of office or letters of administration?
If you are being asked for any kind of letters, chances are that probate may be required to take action on the account or asset that you are trying to dispose of or transfer.
Probate FAQs
Probate is the court supervised process of collecting the assets of someone that has passed away, paying any necessary debts, and then distributing the remaining assets to those entitled by either a Will or by statute.
A Will alone will not avoid probate, but it will make the probate process easier by specifying what will happen to your assets, who will be in charge of your estate, and waiving the requirement of a bond. Additional steps may be required to avoid probate.
Probate can be avoided in the following circumstances: 1) any assets that are in your name individually have beneficiary designations or pay on death provisions that allow them to pass outside if the probate process; 2) the total value of your assets does not exceed a certain amount and do not include real estate, in which case a small estate affidavit can be used; 3) your assets are jointly titled with a survivorship clause and can pass to the surviving joint owner(s); or 4) you assets are titled in the name of a Trust.