What is Probate?
Probate is a process in which a will is proved in a law court to see if they are valid and true enough to be approved and implemented. The process could however, by a long rigorous battle and it takes a New York probate lawyer to help guide you through this entire probate process.
Probate follows a legal process where your last Will is verified in a probate court, before distribution of your assets and properties according to the will. Depending on some factors — such as the state laws binding your locality — the probate process can be quite complex and demanding.
Probating a will is done in a Surrogate’s court such and the proceedings are as stated in the Probate Law of the state. All this is done in the same territory or county where the deceased lived and where the estate(s) is located.
A will is always probated
Last will are always faced with probate before they can be implemented. When you pass away, your family is faced with the challenge of managing and sharing your assets among themselves. This is a delicate, emotional and trying time, when they will be faced with a lot of decisions to make. Leaving them without a Will–a valid one–will make things even more difficult for them. Probate in itself is the legal process of determining the validity of a will before its contents are carried out. Not all Wills are valid. For instance, a Will valid in one state may be invalid in another state, and this is one cogent reason why you need a New York Probate Lawyer.
A will may be contested. When one or more parties feel that the deceased was forced into signing the will, or that they are being cheated out of their inheritance, such party may issue out a petition of contest of will. Thus, increasing the probate process.
In a case where you pass away without a written will, the Surrogate’s court will pass a judgment of estate administration. Estate administration which is backed by laws of intestacy, is done in a case where there is no valid Last Will of the deceased. The estate will then be distributed among the family and relatives according to these intestate laws, and this will see the estate being distributed against the wishes of the beneficiaries. Intestate Laws vary across different states.
The New York Probate lawyer will help
- Write your wills according to the New York state laws. State laws rules over what can be included in estate plan documents such as will. They regulate the documenting process of will as well as the formalities through which a will can be implemented. It is thus advised that you plan consult with a New York probate attorney.
- Evaluate your estate. While planning your estate, it is expected that you evaluate your assets and properties. With the help of New York probate attorney, you can start planning your estate.
- Payment of estate debts, bills and expenses. This is important as each and every asset must be accounted for, and the monetary worth of the estate established. Out of these assets, bills, taxes and debts will have to be paid before the remnant is distributed to every beneficiary. If the value of the estate doesn’t suffice to be shared according to the will, then the beneficiaries wouldn’t get what the decedent intended them to have
- Prepare other estate planning documents such as living trust, power of attorney and advance medical directives. With living trust, you can decide who takes over plans of your estate, make financial decisions over your assets both while you are alive or dead as well as when you become mentally incapacitated.
- Distribution of estate assets to the beneficiaries.
- The New York Probate lawyer may also act as the estate administrator or executor in the absence of a valid Will.
To prevent cases of invalid will or intestate estates, where your estate are share just anyway in which the state see it, you need to plan your will.
No matter the financial or medical situation you are in today, contact a New York probate lawyer to help you through the process of writing your will and obtaining other estate document to prevent probate.