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sadly my mother has passed away, she has various accounts with different amounts of money, she has a few unpaid bills, there is only myself and my brother, he said as the money is over £5000 we would have to go probate.
What does this involve (obvoiusly it must involve tax knowing this country!).
Could someone please tell me waht this entails and how long is the process.
Thank you very much

Applying for probate is to get permission from the court to administer your mother's affairs. If she left a will that is easier than if she didn't.
Go to http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/HMCSCourtFinder/GetForm.do?court_forms_id=735 and download the application form and the guidance notes.
If you need help then go and see Citizens Advice Bureau.

Given the amount of money left by your Mum there should be no tax to pay. However, make sure you maintain records of all money, investments, debts etc that you find so that you can demonstrate this to the tax authorities if they ask. Don't forget that you must inform the pensions service if she was receiving a pension and the appropriate benefit agency if she was receiving any other benefits.

There is a useful book called 'what to do when someone dies' that you should have been given when you registered the death. It's worth reading.

Not a nice job to do but it has to be done. Good luck.

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oK… my dad died in oct-2006.

Probate was just filed on 1-mar-2007 and courtdate of 12-mar-2007.

Executor: My uncle – lawyer was retained by him.
(He had stated previously he was reliquishing his executor status to Edward Jones (yet the laywer & docket info say uncle filed.

Question: as one of several direct children should we have recieved any notification about the probate before now…or is that still something that will happen during the course of probate process.

My biggest problem is that Im getting contradictory info depending on who I talk with (Lawyer,investment rep, uncle, etc?)..
Our dads will & trust is mostly going to his kids (us) though not all.

Only the house & personal items are not in the trust, yet the trust is seemingly being held up by probate (which doesnt make sense).

The file is too new for much to have happened yet, so it wouldn't really be accurate to say anything is being held up.

Your Uncle's previous statement of relinquishing executor status has no legal effect. When it gets put on paper and approved by the Probate Judge, he's no longer Executor, and the new one may be determined by what the Will says. Until then, your Uncle is it.

You are probably getting contradictory information because most of them don't know what they're talking about. The Lawyer is the one that should give you straight answers, assuming you are an heir under the Will.

If you are, you will be notified of everything the Probate Court is asked to do, before they decide whether or not to do it

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Wouldn't everything just go to my wife? I understand a will just informs the judge of how I want my assets distributed – it doesn't 'side step' the probate process. I also understand the need for a revocable trust, to help lesson taxes and avoid probate (generalizing). I live in Ca. We are having a duaghter soon.

My assets are under 1 million but over 500k. I'd like some non biased feedback before I go to speak with an attorney.

Thanks!

First of all you NEED a "living will". And you need the document that tells who you want to handle your cash, your medical needs if you can't speak, and who you want to take care of you if you're in need.

you mentioned a trust, so I assume you have children. And you didn't say the age of your wife. There are things to think about that say your wife dies first and you die right after her say in an accident or visa versa, then your desires will get messed up if you don't have a will, or if you both don't have wills.

Everyone who has over $65,000 and owns anything MUST have a will. Under that they may or may not want to but they still must determine who their executor or executrix will be. Maybe your spouse will be older and never handled the money or elderly and can't handle the monty. So please, for your own good, contact an attorney ASAP and get all this taken care of. Remember to include your daughter (and you'd be adding children to your will as an Adendum later, or changing it altogether).

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At what point? Does it happen before you put it on the market? Is it when the buyer decides to make an offer? When? Is it different for a probate sale? I don't think it matters but this is in California.

Generally, the house should get appraised twice. The lender always orders an appraisal (right before closing), and the buyer also can opt to do an appraisal.

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My father’s estate will have to go to Probate because he was receiving Social Security, and I was very curious about this process.

Does anyone have any tips and things that can help me get through this stressful time?

Thanks!

I am not sure what Social Security has to do with it as much as he had something to probate.

Did he write a will?

Most counties in ohio have info on line now days in reguard to probate court. Do make sure the court has your correct address.

I had to go to probate court while a family member was still alive due to me having Guardianship, It was in a very private setting and around a confrence table if that helps you..
. After my Grandmothers death my lawyer handled the rest of the probate.

So do what it best for you and your family.
I know its hard..

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I live in washington state, and i feel that when my father passed away, his ex-signifigant other either destroyed my father's most recent, valid will or else forged one all together.This person also claimed to be POA for my father,and made some VERY disturbing end-of-life decisions for my father,even though I was there at the hospital before he died.Followong his death,this person simply told the hospital that the POA documents could not be found-though my mom(dad's ex-wife) and I had informed the hospital the whole time we were there that my father had revoked this person's POA status years ago!This person,I've found in my recent research has been charged with,and convicted of,TWO SEPERATE counts of medical malpractice!This person appointed themselves as Executor of my father's estate, & claims that my father left nothing to me or his only grandchild, which i know is untrue. I'm also wondering if there is a statute of limitations,& if anyone has advice for finding legal help pro-bono

Step 1. You hire a probate lawyer.
Step 2. You let the lawyer handle it.

You will not be able to do this on your own. You did not even recognize that it depends on what state you live in.

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I understand that the will must be brought before a judge for validation (probate process), but how long does that take? Is there a specific time period/waiting period? What happens after probate? Can someone walk me through it, please?
The executor has been established long ago. I just wondered what to expect. My mother-in-law is the one who's passed, and my father-in-law is the executor (even though they were divorced). I'm in Texas if that makes a difference. My father-in-law would like to give us my mother-in-law's vehicle for our daughter to drive, but I had heard this would take a long time. My husband put it on our insurance today, and I told him that he should have waited. I just wanted to know what to expect and if we should take the vehicle back off our insurance until the legalities are settled — and about how long that would take, assuming my father-in-law picks up his pace.

It really depends on the estate. Are there assets to be sold and debts to be settled? It could be a short period or a long one.

In any case, no assets should be passed to heirs until all debts have been settled. I agree that your hubby jumped the gun on insuring that vehicle. Wait till you actuall get title to that vehicle. It only takes a phone call to add the car to the insurance but you might be paying insurance on that car for months before you actually get it.

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My sister and I are the recipients of a living trust at the death of my mother 3 years ago. However, my sister will not accept that the trust had ended and will not recieve the the distributions including selling and dividing the proceeds from one property, or taking pocession of the material goods of the parents. The assets are non-taxable and I don't want to go throught the cost of probate in California. Is there another option?

Well I think you answered your own question . . . Motion for a Summary Judgment. In essence you marshal all of the evidence for presentation before a judge essentially showing there is no material issue of fact in dispute and that a reasonable person or jury looking at the same evidence would conclude in your favor.

If the trust is sizeable there may be a trust officer assigned who may be able to offer some suggestions. But a Summary Judgement certainly would work.

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To shorten this. My Fiancé passed away in April. We were together for 5 yrs. He passed away from cancer. Ok how does the will work. If someone leaves you things/money or whatever how do you see to get that? I just do not understand this whole process I am 29 and never thought I would plan a funeral and deal with this at 29 yrs old, thanks for the help.

Sorry for your loss. Do you have the will? If not, you need to locate it. The probate court needs an original signed will to begin the probate process. Plus, the will itself should name the “executor” of the estate, who is the person responsible for filing probate and distributing the assets of the estate. If you are named as a beneficiary, the executor is legally obligated to notify you. If you have heard nothing since April, you should contact your fiancé’s family and ask about the distribution of his estate.

Are you sure a will exists? It’s entirely possible a young person had no will (died “intestate”), in which case the intestacy laws of your state specify the distribution of the estate. Generally speaking, as a fiancée, you will get nothing in this case and the estate will go to next of kin.

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My father passed away 2 weeks ago. His mother had a stroke on the 2nd and I found out today that there is nothing more we can do but bring in hospice. Neither planned anything. No funeral arrangement, no will, no estate planning, nothing.

I hired an attorney to acquire emergency guardianship / conservatorships for both of them. My father passed away before we could secure it. It looks my grandmother will as well.

I am my father's only heir but will split my grandmother's estate with my cousin.

The insurance company is requiring me to hire an attorney as co-administrator of their estates. Any advice on the process of probate and any advice on minimizing expenses, attorney's fees, etc… would be really helpful.
I am really curious about how I am supposed to pay their bills when I don't have access to their bank accounts.

Your addendum, I can answer.

If you have the money, pay the bills but keep EXTREMELY good records. You can charge those bills to the grandmother's estate BEFORE it gets split. As to your father's estate, same rule applies except from your comments, that won't be split.

Reimbursements from an estate for expenses incurred can reduce the size of the estate, don't count as income for you, and therefore can't be taxed either way – income OR inheritance. But you DO have to justify and properly account for the expenses. Receipts are a MUST.

If you DON'T have the money required, advise the creditors that this is an estate issue. Fortunately, I got power of attorney on my mother's holdings BEFORE she reached 2nd stage Alzheimer's, so I had signature authority on her bank account. In more ways than one, I wish I had not needed it.

I think the insurance company's game here is that in some states, the executor of an estate cannot also be the primary beneficiary – conflict of interests thing if I understand the theory. The only way to minimize costs has already passed for your father's estate and might be too late for the other estate as well. If you had gotten earlier power of attorney, a lot of expense issues would have been cheaply settled. But now, I think you are stuck.

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