Demystifying Probate

So many people have very convoluted ideas as to what probate is!  We are going to simplify it for you.  Probate is the process of transferring ownership of assets that belong to a deceased person after they die. Sometimes, it's pretty simple. A bank account, maybe a house, a vehicle.  Other times, it gets murky. Timeshares, old stock certificates, life insurance accounts, half interests in properties... There are several elements that have to be resolved when someone passes away and they are facing probate.

The first question is:

What assets do they have? 

If they were organized and kept everything in one place, or made sure a loved one had a list of these things, it might not be too complicated. But sometimes trying to answer this question can be difficult! And missing assets mean missing value for loved ones left behind.

The second question is:

Who is in charge of handling the transfer of all these assets and making the important decisions for what to do with them? 

This role is called the "personal representative" or the "Executor" of an estate.  If someone had a will or a trust, most estate planning documents name who this person will be.  If they didn't, the law in the state the person lived in before they died is what controls. Sometimes multiple people have the option of serving in that role, and sometimes there can be fights over who should do it. Every situation is different, but it is critically important that the person in this role be responsible, trustworthy and dependable. While there are penalties for mishandling an estate, the process of undoing a poorly handled estate is much more challenging that simply doing it right the first time. 

Finally, one must ask:

Who do these assets get passed to? 

Again, if the person has a well crafted estate plan, there is no question who gets what. But what if there is an ex spouse in the document and they never updated it?  What if there is a blended family, with a new spouse and stepkids and kids from a prior marriage?  What if they had no children? What if there are debts owed by the deceased person that have not been paid off yet? What if there are so many debts that the assets aren't enough to cover them?  These are all issues that come up during the process of probate.  And they happen all the time.

Making Things Simple

Here at The Shore Lawyer, our primary goal is to simplify this complex process and make it seamless for your loved ones, giving you the peace of mind that comes with a small amount of time invested into making sure the legacy you leave behind is secure.

Our primary goal for people who choose to invest up front is to avoid the probate process altogether, so that all of these questions are readily identified in one place, easily, and distributed to the people they were intended for without paying out unnecessary fees to the government or legal expenses that result from having to sort out these muddled messes. The money you invest in an estate plan is far less than the money it takes to sort out an unplanned estate.

On the flip side, if you find yourself in a situation where someone you love has died without an estate plan, or a poorly crafted one, and you are scratching your head as you try to answer some of these questions listed above, we are here to help with that also. While it is our goal that no one face the end of life- whenever that may be- unprepared, we realize that not everyone will take our advice. And when that happens, we're here to clean up the messes so that you don't have to. 

So whether you find yourself at the end of a mess or trying to avoid one, we're here for you.