Probate is a
court-supervised process that entails distributing the assets of a
deceased person or decedent among the appointed heirs after all
financial liabilities and taxes have been settled. In the U.S., only
16 states abide by the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) in its entirety.
All other states have adopted certain parts of the UPC yet follow
their respective probate procedures.
Generally, a decedent’s
last will enters probate within a month or two after death. If a
person died intestate or without leaving a will, the probate court
appoints an executor or representative who will distribute the
decedent’s estate in accordance with Descent and Distribution laws.
In this case, the court names all possible beneficiaries, from the
immediate family to the heirs at law, to discuss how the estate is to
be split.
Beneficiaries gather in
court and state their eligibility for owning certain assets of the
deceased. After all disputes are settled, the court may begin
distributing the rights of the decedent's property to the named
beneficiaries.
Assets that are
initially owned by the decedent's sole name are often the first ones
to be probated. Usually, these are settled in court. The court
usually pays off the decedent’s debts before splitting the
remaining value of the assets among the beneficiaries named in the
will.
