Quick summary
Probate is the legal process that includes filing a deceased person's will with a court, locating and gathering the assets owned at death, paying all final debts and taxes due -- and, eventually, distributing the property that remains as the will directs. If someone dies without leaving a valid will and without setting up any of the other ways to pass property discussed below, the property will be distributed according to a formula set out in state law.
How probate works
- Taking the will to court: During probate, the will must be brought to a local court, where it will be examined to be sure it's authentic and properly signed and witnessed, and that it complies with all other state requirements.
- Who can receive property: If your relative dies without a will or with an invalid one, also known as "dying intestate," the court will determine who's entitled to take any property under state law. While state laws vary slightly, most specify that the property goes according to a hierarchy: first to a surviving spouse, then to any children, and finally to any surviving parent, siblings, nieces and nephews, and next of kin.
- Administering the estate: The probate court will order the executor, who is named in the will, to administer that will. If there is no will, the court will appoint an administrator. The executor or administrator will be charged with a number of tasks: inventorying the property your family member owned at death, having it appraised if necessary, notifying relatives and known creditors about the death, and publishing a notice in the local newspaper that's intended to ferret out unknown relatives and creditors.
After final debts and creditors are paid, the property will be passed to the survivors. The entire process generally takes 9 to 18 months -- although some probate procedures drag on for several years before the property is finally divvied up and distributed.
Advantages of probate
Despite the common laments about probate being a costly and confusing procedure that's long on paperwork and delays and short on satisfaction, in some situations it may actually be helpful. For example:
- Probate sets an absolute deadline by which creditors must file formal claims against an estate or be forever barred from collecting -- useful if your relative faced big debts or the possibility of a large court judgment.
- Probate makes the process of dividing up a person's assets transparent, since the public can generally get access to a will once it's filed in probate court. This can be handy when survivors feud over property to which they feel entitled -- a situation that crops up all too often. Facing a will's written directives can sometimes help calm the greedy or overanxious.
Disadvantages of probate
Time and money are the two big drawbacks to probate, and they're the common reasons that are given for making every effort to avoid it.
- It typically takes nearly a year or more from the first contact with a probate court until property is finally distributed to survivors.
- The entire procedure is often costly in itself -- usually involving fees for attorneys, appraisers, accountants, and the probate court. Of these, the biggest bite goes to probate lawyers, who can take a set percentage of the fair market value of the property just for completing and filing the required paperwork.
- All these costs are paid from estate property, and they generally eat up 5 percent or more of its total value. For example, if your relative owns $400,000 worth of property at death, probate fees alone are likely to run $20,000 or more.
With the decline of my husband's health, as survivor, I have many ideas about providing secure transfers of money and property, upon my death, to our son.
My family and I used United Planning Group to set up our trust. We're very happy with their service and it was only a one-time, life-time fee. It included all of the settlement process as well after we pass on.
my mother signed power of attorney to my cousin and she had already been diaonise with dementia now my cousin is trying to sell everything i am the only child and without a lawyer iam losing the court will not listen to me and the court appointed lawyer doesnt have my mothers best interest at heart do you know of anybody that will help me before its too late
I have seen a lady have a Revocable Living Trust and her kids file some trumped up "dimentia" to the State/APS. Guardianship was assigned by the State. They immediately had her unable to access the money she has saved since her retirement. But it is wrong to be so generous to the amount of 75.00 a week as Her allowance. It is Her money not any of her kids Father had anything to do with the money has today. She wants her kids out of the situation, But She was days away from having the Trust modified to Her wishes before the children called APS and they immediately froze Her up. Have they succeeded in burying the ground?
simple outlining of the issues involved helped bring down my stress level, since I have to deal with my 82-year-old aunt who keeps delaying putting things in order for herself and her 61-year-old, mentally disabled son.
Hello nancyluc, Thank you very much for your question. If you'd like, you can post your question in our Ask & Answer section, here: ( http://www.caring.com/ask ). Good luck. -- Emily | Community Manager
I am the trustee of my fathers estate and he had several checking accounts and CD's - I accidently transferred one of his CD to his regular checking account instead of the trust checking which are at the same bank. I am co owner of the CD - am I going to have a problem putting the money in the correct Trust account so I can pay the family what the Trust says.. I am disabled and get confused easily but none of the other siblings would help me, I did all the care of my dad, doctors, dentist, grocery shopping and now I have this and I am scared that I made a big mistake and will cause the estate to go to probate the CD was 100.000 but I am a joint owner and we live in California. I can not sleep as I am so worried about this and afraid I did something terrible. It was such a huge job as I had my Dad for 5 years and became sick at the same time. Now once again I have this burden and just want to get everyone off my back. No one ever helped me only when they wanted to borrow money from the trust. Please if anyone is out there please answer me as it is making me ill. thank you and God bless you if you can ease my mind
I'm executor of my mother's estate which isn't much tho my brother & sis-in-law think so. They removed her stock certificates, deed to her burial plot, her prepaid funeral certificate and paid life insurance policies from her files before they abandoned her. They can't sell or get refunds from any of those without her preseance & signiture. They swindled from her what they were to inheirit and believe they'll try to use these documents as leverage to get more. Think the probate court will find that interesting?
riverside because of the economy funerals, memorial breakfast or brunch has to be paid in cash. i know they would not wait for any $ to come in. chica60 what i read so far the joint tenancy is the way to go upon death ywww
you just answered my question on my home car and boat joint tenancy with my daughter tyvmmm
My mom has been awarded guardian of the state of Texas. If she dies while under their guardianship, how will our family be able to arrange for the funeral and funds to pay for it?
My mother hired an attorney and he drew up a pay on death deed to transfer her house to my brother on her death and we went to her bank and she signed a form that her bank account to be divided equally between her four children upon her death. Would this be enough to avoid probate?