Probate is a difficult and awful time for the interested persons, even under the best of circumstances. You’ve just lost a loved one, you’re grieving, and then here’s a lawyer telling you that you need an attorney to get through the process, it’ll probably take up to a year (or more, depending on the facts that surrounded the decedent’s estate) and you’re being hounded with the medical bills from the last illness. There is no good way to navigate through the process, but it can be helpful walking into any attorney’s office, knowing what to expect.
a) Expect that probate will take several months, even for an expedited one. There is the opening of the estate ( if the estate is small enough, you may not need to do this, but if it’s over $25, 000 in Alaska, be prepared to open an estate).
b) A personal representative must be appointed.
c) An inventory must be done – this includes rounding up all of the assets and the debts of the decedent, so that you have an idea of what the estate is truly worth, and how to divide the assets properly. In Alaska, the inventory must be done within 90 days of the appointment of the personal representative.
d) Notice must be given to heirs, devisees, and all known creditors. If you know of a creditor, it is wise to inform them of the probate proceeding to avoid a suit to collect by a creditor that should have been paid, and was a known creditor. There is case law from the Supreme Court on this issue.
e) Publication must occur – a newspaper must be contacted and publish so that creditors can come forward.
f) A final distribution petition must be filed with the court and the court must approve it.
g) The personal representative must petition to close the estate.
h) If there is property out of state, an ancillary probate proceeding must also be initiated to deal with the properties.
i) During the probate process, there are the logistics of making sure that the estate assets are being preserved while the probate process is opened. This includes paying taxes on properties, maintaining insurance on vehicles, boats, and planes, and taking steps to make sure that the estate assets are not wasted.
These are the basics of an estate- probate proceedings can often be incredibly intricate, costly and time consuming, not to mention overwhelming when someone is struggling with the grief of losing a loved one.