Mental health court is charged with committing individuals to treatment centers with the allegation of mental issues, developmental disability, chemical dependency, psychopathic personality, and referrals from criminal court. Having understood what mental health court does, let’s consider what probate is.
What is Probate?
Put simply, probate is a legal procedure your estate undergoes after you pass away. During the probate proceeding, a court will begin the process of sharing your estate to the right heirs.
Probate is always simpler if you own a will and/ or Living Trust that explicitly states your wishes. These documents help most by naming your beneficiaries and an executor. An executor is the individual charged with supervising your ultimate wishes.
If you have created an estate plan, you are smart. Creating a will or living trust makes a hard life-event just a little easier for your loved ones.
It is essential to understand that your will still must undergo probate. However, it is so much easier when you have made futuristic plans. During probate, a court will first validate your will, and then authorize your executor to settle all debts and taxes and share your remaining property based on your wishes. You probably have several questions about probate, which is why it makes sense to read on.
How probate works
Probate is the assessment and transfer administration of estate assets formally owned by a deceased individual. When a property owner passes, his assets are commonly analyzed by a probate court. The probate court provides the final ruling on the division and sharing of assets to beneficiaries. A probate proceeding will normally begin by determining whether or not the deceased individual has provided a legalized will.
In a lot of cases, the deceased individual has established documentation, which consist of instructions on how their assets should be shared after death. But, in some cases, the deceased doesn’t leave a will.
What should you expect at Probate Court?
The probate process starts when the person (normally a spouse or adult child of the deceased) files an application with the county court and tenders the deceased individual’s will and death certificate. The court will then step in to determine the authenticity of the will and appoint the designated executor. At this point, either the executor will manage the probate process or further court proceedings will be needed. There are a lot of reasons you might have to attend probate court in the stead of a loved one.
Probate court is commonly needed if an individual dies without creating a will. In these cases, the court would step in to supervise the sharing of assets according to that state’s intestate laws (typically passing belongings to children, parents, and then siblings). Probate court can also be needed if an estate is more than a certain value or if there are a huge amount of solely owned assets.
As the executor of an estate, you’ll need the help of a probate lawyer to navigate the probate process. Let us take a look at what probate lawyers do.
What do probate Lawyers do?
Helping with the whole probate process can be considered as the main purpose of a probate lawyer but what exactly are they supposed to help you out with. Some of the basic tasks that a probate lawyer is supposed to carry out while dealing with a particular estate are as follows:
- Identification and collection of assets
- Retitling and distributing assets to the beneficiaries
- Collecting proceeds from life insurance policies
- Obtaining appraisals of properties
- Preparation of all court documents and filing them
- Settling disputes
- Managing the estate checking account
- Handling overall finances
- Resolving income task issues
Once you finally hire a probate lawyer who is qualified and can easily perform all of the duties listed above, then opening a probate estate either via the formal method or the informal method wouldn’t be a hard task for you. There might only be a handful of probate lawyers around you but then how do you know the qualified ones amongst them? This should lead us to the next question.
Contact us
Contact us to provide you with the best probate lawyer for your case. Our probate lawyers are quite experienced, understanding, and up-to-date about probate laws.
