What is probate and can it be avoided?
Probate is a court process where after death the will is filed with the court and presented to a judge or commissioner for approval and authority to administer the estate. An executor has no authority until a court order is entered. The process then requires publication, notices, inventory and/or appraisement, legal declarations regarding administration, in some cases bond, and other statutory requirements. Probate allows creditors and heirs rights regarding the executors actions, validity of the will and distribution of the estate. If you have assets in other states, ancillary probates are often required, running up costs. In most cases probate may be avoided fairly easily with proper estate planning.
