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7 posts tagged Probate, newest first.
A will directs property through the estate and can name guardians; a funded living trust can manage covered assets during life and transfer them outside probate.
An executor collects the decedent's assets, notifies creditors, pays valid debts and taxes, then distributes what is left. It is a fiduciary job, it takes months to years, and doing it in the wrong order creates personal liability.
If you die without a will, your state intestate succession statute decides who inherits, usually spouse and children first. A probate court also appoints the administrator and, if needed, a guardian for minor children.
Probate is the court-supervised process of settling a deceased person's estate: validating the will, paying debts, and distributing assets. Many people avoid it because it is slow, costly, and public. Living trusts, beneficiary designations, joint ownership, and payable-on-death accounts can pass assets outside probate.
Probate is the court-supervised process of transferring a decedent's assets. This post explains when a small estate affidavit can substitute, how full administration works, and the typical timeline from death to distribution.
A valid will requires a few specific elements that every state recognizes. This post covers capacity, intent, signature, witnesses, self-proving affidavits, and the choices that determine whether a will controls or whether state intestacy law does.
Most adults do not have a will. The default rules (intestate succession) often produce results the deceased would not have chosen. A simple decision tree helps a healthy adult pick between a will, a revocable living trust, and a hybrid arrangement based on family structure, asset complexity, and state.