Probate ensures that many of the assets in an estate are legally transferred to creditors and heirs. An executor — appointed by the decedent’s will or by a court — oversees the process, which can take six months or longer, depending on factors such as the estate’s size and state laws. Probate is particularly […]
Probate
Probate: Know the Details
Probate is a legal process that ensures that a deceased person’s debts (including liens and taxes) are paid and that the remaining assets are distributed according to the person’s will, or if no will exists, according to the laws of intestacy. In some states, any estate valued over $3,000 must be probated; in other […]
Settling a Deceased Person’s Debts
An estate is everything someone owns at the time of death. The process of paying bills and distributing what’s left is called probate. The executor of an estate uses assets to pay off debts. This might include writing checks from a bank account or selling property to get the money. Indeed, the settlement of […]
How To Value Items in An Estate
If you’re the executor of an estate, part of your job is to oversee the valuation of assets. Finding out how much the estate is worth and how that value is distributed will determine your approach to probate, the allocation of the assets among the heirs, and how much the estate will pay in taxes. […]
Clawing Back Assets After Probate
Contesting a will can be an expensive and painful struggle. But suppose the will has already been probated (accepted by the court as valid) and the assets distributed to the beneficiaries? Then a challenge becomes exponentially harder, especially as the assets may have been sold or disposed of. New information might have come to light. […]
How to Choose the Right Probate Lawyer
Maybe you have been named executor in a will. Or, for an added wrinkle, suppose there is no executor or those named are either dead or unavailable. Compounding the problem, imagine you have decided the named executor is not up to snuff and must be replaced. In this article, we’ll provide valuable insight into how […]
See Larger Map Get Directions