What You Need to Know About Probate in Your State
by Liza HanksProbate is the official way that an estate gets settled under the supervision of the court. A person, usually a surviving spouse or an adult child, is appointed by the court if there is no Will, or nominated by the deceased person's Will. Once appointed, this person, called an executor or Personal Representative, has the legal authority to gather and value the assets owned by the estate, to pay bills and taxes, and, ultimately, to distribute the assets to the heirs or beneficiaries.
Click on the state-specific article below to learn more about how probate works in your state and where to file the papers necessary to get probate started.
About Liza Hanks
Liza Hanks is a partner at GCA Law Partners LLP in Mountain View, California, where she practices estate planning, trust administration, and probate law. She’s the author of Every Californian’s Guide to Estate Planning: Wills, Trusts & Everything Else and The Trustee’s Legal Companion (with Attorney Carol Zolla) and she writes about estate planning and inheritance law here at Legal Consumer. Liza is a graduate of Stanford Law School, a former magazine editor, and the mother of two children (neither of whom show any desire to become attorneys).
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