The neighbor, Joann, was a widow with no children. Joann's will specified that all of her assets would go to Sarah's dad and ...

Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a deceased person’s will. It involves identifying the person’s final assets, paying last debts and distributing property to the proper heirs. And ...

Finding a valid will years later begs the question: is it too late? Let's imagine Sarah. While going through some old papers, ...

When a loved one passes away and you know you need to get the probate court involved, oftentimes people find themselves asking where they begin. Further, people often wonder if they must get an ...

Probate is the legal process for distributing your property after you die. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain ...

Probate Initiation: An interested party, often a family member or creditor, petitions the probate court to open an intestate estate. Appointment of Administrator: The court appoints an administrator ...

My mom died just over a year ago, and I’m still knee-deep in probate. I’m barely average. The typical probate process to settle a will or the estate of somebody who dies without one takes 20 months, ...

For example, shock — especially if your late relative named you the executor of their will without your prior knowledg ...

The importance of a Will when bequeathing assets such as property is well known. But while having a Will may make inheriting a property easier, the legal process can be more complex and long. This is ...

A frequent concern expressed by legal assistance clients seeking a will or other estate documents is if their property will enter the probate process after their death. Family members commonly express ...

In effect, probate functioned as a pre-emptive filter, forcing scrutiny at the planning stage, before property or assets were ...