Probate is the legal process of settling the estate of someone who has passed away. Not in most cases. Assuming your will gives your personal representative all of the necessary powers, our system allows the personal representative to act with complete authority and without court intervention on nearly all matters, saving a significant amount of time and money. Furthermore, unlike some other states, attorneys fees are not based on a percentage of the value of the estate. This makes the probate procedure significantly less expensive than many other states, such as California, Hawaii, Montana, and Wyoming.
In those cases, yes, probate can be a long and costly endeavor. However, that is a function of particular circumstances surrounding the family, and not an inefficiency of the probate process itself. This really depends on the assets and value of the estate, the work performed by the personal representative, the claims of creditors, and whether or not the will is being contested.
Certain timeframes may give you a better understanding of how long probate might last. Of course, if family members disagree, if the will is contested, or the personal representative is not diligent in his or her duties, it takes a considerably longer time. The decedent appoints a personal representative in his or her will to be responsible for winding up his or her affairs.
The personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, which is paid from the estate. The first step is to hire an attorney. Your attorney is going to be your guide through this process, and you will need to feel at ease with him or her. The attorney should be someone who is capable of handling the complex estate planning and tax issues that may arise during the course of settling the estate and can assist you with the implementation and funding of various trusts that need to be established.
You are not required to employ the attorney who drafted the will and often times if the decedent had a poorly drafted document, a skilled attorney may be able to mitigate its effects. Before you can open probate and before you can be appointed by the court as the personal representative of the estate , you will need to do a little investigative work.
