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 ...

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, ...

Probate is the legal process of administering a Decedent’s Last Will & Testament (“Will”), whereby assets owned by the Decedent at death are distributed pursuant to the terms of their Will, or if ...

At some point in your lifetime, you may be a beneficiary in waiting. That is what beneficiaries of wills do – they wait for a will to be probated, they wait for information from the estate’s personal ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

One of the most effective tools in the estate planning process is a trust, which can offer significant advantages-including the ability to bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process. Trusts, ...

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 ...