Learn how probate validates a will, settles debts, and distributes assets to heirs under court supervision. and how state intestacy laws work when there's no will.

Probate is the legal process of administering a Decedent’s Last Will & Testament (“Will”), whereby assets owned by the Decedent at death are distributed pursuant to the terms of their Will, or if ...

A will or estate will end up going through the probate process.

Probate refers to the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person. This process can take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years, depending on several factors such as the size ...

What is a probate attorney? Probate can feel like stepping into a maze of legal paperwork, court deadlines and emotional decisions, often at one of life’s more difficult moments. Families suddenly ...

A probate judge is an official of the county court system and a judicial official of the state who decides civil court cases that involve the probate process. Probate is the process of proving wills ...

Probate gets a bad name based on the relatively few estates that go through ugly and sometimes years-long will contests in probate courts. The article about Aubrey McClendon’s estate says that probate ...

This is the third installment of my seven-part series on major estate planning mistakes. The first two are here and here. Not avoiding probate. When an asset passes to others through a will, it has to ...