What is Probate?
If a person dies and owns any assets in his or her name alone (i.e not held jointly with another person), the family may need to use the court to transfer the property out of the deceased person’s name. The process of transferring property is called ‘probate’. Probate is done through the court to ensure that the transfer is done appropriately and in accordance with law. Certain assets, including property held jointly with another person and accounts with a beneficiary designation, do not require probate in order to transfer the property. It is advised that you contact a probate attorney in order to determine if a probate is necessary.
There are times when a probate is not necessary. If a person dies with less than $50,000 in assets and does not own any real estate, then something called an Affidavit of Collection may be used in lieu of probate to transfer any assets. Again, it is advised that you contact a probate attorney in order to determine if an Affidavit of Collection is appropriate for your situation.
It is a common misconception that if a person has a will, then a probate is not necessary. A will is the instruction manual that tells the court where the deceased’s property should go. Probate is still necessary to actually transfer the property to the parties identified in the will.
If a probate is necessary, the process will typically include the following steps:
Typically, the entire process takes anywhere from 5 months to 1 year, and sometimes longer. The length of time often depends on the court’s schedule, family cooperation, and various other factors.
The death of a friend or family member is an emotional, scary, and stressful time. An experienced probate attorney can help to ease some of this by walking you through the process and ensuring that all steps are completed. If you have questions regarding probate or otherwise relating to the death of a loved one, please contact Leslie Thielen, at Leslie@fremstadlaw.com or 701-478-7620.
© 2021 Fremstad Law
TERMS OF USE AND DISCLAIMER: Thank you for visiting the Fremstad Law Web site. Please note that the materials on our site have been prepared by us for general informational purposes and are not legal advice. We will not accept requests for legal advice over the Internet. You should not rely on any information contained herein in evaluating any specific legal issues you may have. Do not send us information about your legal issues until you speak to one of our lawyers and get authorization to do so. The firm does not and will not consider or treat any unsolicited e-mails or information sent to us, an attorney, or an employee of the firm by persons seeking legal advice or other non-clients to be confidential and the firm reserves the unconditional right to disclose or use any such unsolicited e-mails or information for any purpose. Your use of our Web site and/or sending e-mail to us or one of our lawyers does not create a lawyer-client relationship. A lawyer-client relationship is not created except by a written acknowledgment of such an engagement signed by a member of the firm. For your convenience, our Web site may contains links to other third-party sites. We do not endorse or verify the accuracy of information on such sites and are not responsible for the contents of any of these third-party resources. The inclusion of such link on this site does not imply the endorsement, recommendation or approval of that site by Fremstad Law.