DO I NEED A PROBATE ATTORNEY?

Probate is the court process required when someone dies with assets in their own name and there is no paid on death beneficiary, for example, on a bank account.
Probate is a complicated process and requires a probate attorney with experience. Ally Glaser has the experience and knowledge to get you through your probate process in the least amount of time required.

There are many types of probate, but the most common is a formal administration. A probate attorney creates the documents to open the probate and then a personal representative signs them to open the estate. A personal representative is appointed either because the decedent’s will appoints them, or because they are the closest next of kin.

An intestate probate is one without a will, where a testate probate means the decedent died with a will. It is always the best choice while living to do an entire estate plan including a trust and with proper funding, avoid probate altogether. This avoids the costs and complications of the probate court.

If estate planning including a trust has not been done, then a probate is needed to sort through assets and a probate attorney is needed to collect and distribute these assets. Even with a good estate plan, I have seen probates with just one asset that was left out of the trust. In this case, even with only one asset a probate is still needed to collect and distribute that one asset.