Probate is the legal process of transferring the title of a deceased person's property from their estate to their proper beneficiaries.
A judge will distribute the deceased person's property amongst any known heirs or relatives.
The surrogate court decides the validity of a deceased person's will.
The courts will interpret the instructions left behind by the deceased, and will ultimately decide who should be the executor of the estate.
The courts will consider the interests of all parties that have any claims against the estate.
During this process, the property of a decedent is retitled.
Probate can be a long and costly process.
They are legal proceedings that involve many different financial aspects that must be addressed.
All of the descendants' creditors will need to be notified and certain legal notices will have to be published.
All of the trustees will have to be informed how to distribute the decedent's assets as well as how to handle any creditors requests for funds.
The petition to appoint a representative of the estate must be filed if one has not already been appointed.
And the Letters of Administration must be obtained and filed with the courts.
Any homestead property must be dealt with separately from other assets.
There are special rules regarding homesteads that pertain to the state of Florida.
This is a very time sensitive process where certain papers must be filed with the courts during a certain time period.
A beneficiary of the estate must file any objections or claims against the decedent's estate in a timely fashion.
In the event of any pending lawsuits regarding the decedent's death, those issues must first be resolved before the distribution of assets.
The deceased person's real estate may need to be sold to pay off any existing debts.
Or it may need to be sold to fairly distribute assets to the beneficiaries based on the terms of the estate.
There are also tax considerations to take care of when in probate.
There are the descendants' estate taxes that must be considered if the estate falls within a certain range regarding its value.
It is very important for the estate to have attorneys that specialize in these types of proceedings.
The laws can be very complex and the overall probate process can be very stressful.
It's best to avoid it all together, and establish clearly set out instructions in the Will.
If the Will is contested, then it may still have to go through this process.