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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

Probate is the process of proving a will and settling an estate after an individual (decedent) dies. The cost of probate depends on several factors. One of the most significant is the state in which ...

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 ...

Next Avenue recently asked readers to tell us the estate planning questions they’d like us to answer. We’re now back with the experts’ views on the top question on your mind, plus — as a bonus — their ...

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, ...

We constantly hear from advisors that we should plan our affairs in such a way as to avoid probate. What does the phrase mean and what property is subject to the probate process? What planning is ...

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