What is Probate?

At your death, your estate will be subject to Probate. Probate is the mandatory court proceeding to organize and finalize all of your legal and financial matters. If you have a Will, the Probate Court reviews it and rules on its validity, paying creditors and inventorying assets. The Probate Court changes the title of all assets from your name to the names of the beneficiaries in your Will. If there is no Will, then your estate is distributed by what is known as intestate succession.


The Problems of Probate

COSTS - By reviewing the following chart you can estimate the amount of attorney and executor fees. These fees do not include Filing Fees, Probate Referee Fee, and Publication Costs which are all associated with probate.


TIME - If your estate is over $100,00 and under $1,000,000. the average time for probate is a year and a half. For estates over $1,000,000. the time may be as long as three years or more



GROSS AMOUNT ACCOUNT FOR IN PROBATE ESTATE PROBATE FEES
(ATTORNEY AND EXECUTOR)
$  100,000 $  8,000
$  200,000 $14,000
$  300,000 $18,000
$  400,000 $22,000
$  500,000 $26,000
$  600,000 $30,000
$  700,000 $34,000
$  800,000 $38,000
$  900,000 $44,000
$1,000,000 $48,000
$2,000,000 $68,000
$3,000,000 $88,000
$4,000,000 $108,000