How Expensive Is Probate?
When you are the closest confidant of a terminally ill or recently deceased relative, one of the last things that you worry about is how much it will cost to complete the probate process for your family member’s estate when he or she dies. You care about your family member getting quality medical care and being treated with respect by long-term care providers. You care about keeping the peace between family members who use their claims to inheritance as a proxy for their long-standing grievances against each other. With so many worries and so many emotions, you probably have not had time to think about the practical aspects of probate, but if the decedent’s will named you as personal representative of the estate, then it is your responsibility. The personal representative of a deceased person’s estate always has the right to hire a lawyer to represent him or her, even if there are no major legal disputes associated with the estate. If you are in charge of probate, but you are feeling stuck, contact a Dade City probate lawyer.
You Can’t Afford to Be Clueless About Probate
According to a recent report published on the USA Today website, the average probate case takes 20 months to settle the estate. The costs of probate vary according to several factors, including the value of the estate, the decedent’s outstanding debts, and whether there are any disputes, such as a family member contesting the validity of the will. In practice, this means that probate usually costs between three and seven percent of the gross value of the estate. These figures include both cases where the decedent left a will and cases where there was no will and the court followed the laws of intestate succession.
Worst of all, most people do not find this out until they must take on the role of personal representative of a relative’s estate. Furthermore, probate rules vary slightly from one state to another and even from one county to another, so if you were there when one relative acted as personal representative of another’s estate, your experience may be different, and you will still be in for some surprises.
What to Do If You Find Yourself Unprepared for the Role of Personal Representative
If a family member tells you that he or she has listed you as personal representative, your first feeling should be relief, because it means that your family member has written a will and is willing to discuss his or her estate plan. Talk to your family member, and perhaps to his or her estate planning lawyer, to find out as much as you can about potential complications with the estate. If you do not find out until after a relative dies that you are the personal representative, you have some time to discuss matters with a probate lawyer before you formally open the estate.
Contact a Florida Estate Planning Attorney About Stepping Up for Probate
A probate attorney can help you successfully settle the estate of a deceased family member. Contact The Law Office of Laurie R. Chane in Dade City, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
usatoday.com/story/money/2024/07/30/inheritance-probate-process-explained/74592143007/
