How does one probate an estate?

Go to the clerks office of your local probate court get the necessary documents, fill them out, and return them to the clerks office. Better than that spend a few hundred dollars and hire a probate attorney to handle.

If there is real property involved, or a substantial amount of personal property, you should consult with an attorney who specializes in probate law in your jurisdiction. When anyone dies owning property, their debts must be paid before any assets can be distributed to the heirs. An estate representative must be appointed by the court and they must settle the estate according to state law. The estate representative is personally liable for any errors they make contrary to probate law or any waste caused by their errors.

Briefly, the estate representative's duties include the following:

• Safeguard the assets, changing locks if necessary until the will is presented for probate
• Select the attorney who will handle the estate
• Submit the will for allowance and petition for appointment as executor if there is a will
• Publish notice and notifies heirs at law and beneficiaries
• (Once appointed) Open an estate account if necessary
• Assemble, Inventory and take custody of assets
• Notify Social Security and insurance companies of the death
• Pay the debts of the estate according to statutory priority
• Administer the estate according to the provisions of the will and state law
• If there is no will the estate must be administered according to the state laws of intestacy
• File the estate tax return
• Distribute the estate
• File the final account