Probates

About eighty-five percent of our firm's practice involves estate administration and planning. Therefore, we are excellently qualified in assisting our clients with probates.

Probate is the process of handling the estate of a deceased person. If the estate is of sufficient size, the process involves taking the matter to court for a probate. If a person dies with a Will, the process involves enforcing the Will through the court probate process. If a person dies without a Will, the state has adopted a distribution pattern for their estate called, "Intestate Succession." The probate of both a Will and an Intestate Succession estate both involve court processes.

Probate is a long complex legal process that requires competent legal assistance. The process involves publishing and mailing legal notices, making court appearances, and filing numerous legal documents with the court.

The probate process starts when we file a court petition to appoint an executor or administrator as the personal representative of the estate. Our firm then assists the personal representative in searching for all assets and liabilities of the deceased person. We must publish a notice to potential creditors in the newspaper. We then must assist the personal representative catalogue all assets. Next we assist in advising on the retention of an accountant to file income taxes for the decedent and the estate. We also assist in processing the creditor claims. After all creditors and taxes have been determined, we assist the personal representative in tracking all income and expenses, preparing an accounting and petitioning the court to allow distribution of the remainder to the heirs or beneficiaries of the Will.

Often a probate will need to sell real property to raise funds to pay for the deceased person's debts, taxes and estate administration expenses. Selling real property requires additional court appearances.

Our firm offers many years of expert probate experience. We can assist personal representatives feel comfortable in charting the challenging probate process.