Five Things You Should Know About Probate

Probate is the legal process of “proving up” a Will. If you have never looked into the subject, you may assume that the executor that is named in a will can distribute assets to the inheritors without government supervision. This is not the case at all, however.

A will is admitted to probate, and the Surrogate’s Court presides over the estate administration process. In this post, we will share five things that you should definitely know about probate in the event you are faced with it.

There are multiple expenses that accumulate during probate. The executor is entitled to remuneration for their time and trouble, and the court charges a filing fee. Frequently, the executor will bring in a probate lawyer and accountant, so there are professional fees as well.

Appraisals and liquidations are often necessary, and there are charges involved. When you add in the incidental expenses that will be incurred by the executor, you are looking at a relatively significant amount of money.

It's Time Consuming

The inheritors do not receive anything until the court has probated and closed the estate, and probate is a time-consuming process. If everything is simple and straightforward, and there are no complications at all, it may take about eight months, but this is a best-case scenario.

This time leg is inconvenient at best, and it can result in genuine hardships for some people that need their inheritances sooner rather than later.

Probate Can Lead To Disgruntled Parties.

One of the tasks the court will undertake is the “proving of the will.” The court determines the validity of the will, and if anyone wants to challenge the terms, they are given the opportunity to come forward during probate.

On the one hand, this is a necessary safeguard, because there are legitimate estate challenges. This being stated, in other cases, people that are disgruntled can slow down an already lengthy process with challenges that stand on shaky or nonexistent ground.

It's a Public Proceeding

If you are like most people, you do not share your personal financial decisions with everyone that has an interest. Privacy is important, but it is often lost when an estate goes through probate.

It is a public proceeding, so anyone that is interested can access the records to find out how resources were distributed. This is disconcerting in a general sense, and the information can cause hard feelings among people that were close to the decedent.

Probate Can Be Avoided

The last thing that you should know about probate is the simple fact that it can be avoided so you can steer clear of these drawbacks we have talked about. A revocable living trust is a very personal estate planning tool that is the ideal probate avoidance solution for many people.

With this type of trust, you maintain personal control over the assets that you signed over to the trust, because you would act as the trustee. After your passing, a successor trustee that you name in the document would distribute the assets to the beneficiaries in accordance with your wishes. The probate court would not be involved, so the hassles can be avoided.

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