The Law Offices of Lin and Wood proudly serve the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and all of the Bay Area for individuals in need of probating a will. You may not be too familiar with the process of probating of will and that is where our experience and compassion are valuable. We understand that having to address issues regarding the estate of a loved one or friend is never easy. We can assure you that our advice and choices are for your best interest and maximizing the estate assets for heirs and beneficiaries.
Brief Summary of the Probate Process
The process begins by filing a petition with the probate court in the county the decedent resided in. Probating of will is governed by state law so in California the petition is filed in the relevant county superior court. The filing fees are always increasing and right now most types of petitions for probating a will are around $435.00. After the petition is filed notice is sent out, bonds issued if necessary, there will be letters of administration or special letters of administration submitted, the legal representative appointed and the initial hearing held during the first four to six weeks. The next part of probating a will is providing notice to creditors and putting together an inventory and appraising assets. Just because a creditor believes they are owed money in the probating of will does not mean they automatically get paid from the estate. The claim can be rejected. If the claim is rejected then the creditor can sue the estate for payment in California Superior Court. Once claims are dealt with the estate pays debts, files tax returns, sells property if necessary and possibly make an initial distribution to beneficiaries. At the end of the probating of will is preparing and filing a final accounting, making final distributions to beneficiaries, final hearing in which judge hopefully signs judgment of final distribution and the final discharge is filed with the court.
Real Property
Real property and probating of will can be difficult depending upon the circumstances. If one spouse passes away with a will and a spouse still survives the process of probating a will can be very simple. A spousal property petition or petition to determine succession can be filed to avoid a full probate case. If the real property is of little value an affidavit for real property of small value can be filed. The real property needs to be worth less than $50,000. The three processes just described are problematic if the person who passed away has debts that need to be addressed though. The recipient of the real property can be pursued by creditors of the decedent.
Legal Representative vs. Trustee of a Trust
When a loved one or friend passes away with a will or without a will the probate process is the court supervised distribution of the decedents assets. If someone passes away with a living revocable trust or irrevocable living trust the trustee named in the trust document is trusted to administer the estate without court supervision. This is a little discussed advantage of probating a will or the process of probating of will.
