The cumulative effort to find all the creditors and make sure they are paid and the remaining assets distributed to the heirs by the Probate Court is called the Settlement of the Estate and can be summarized into the following steps:
- Probate the will or determined that the person died with out a will and appoint a Personal Representative to administer the estate.
- Determine what assets were owned by the decedenta t death and appraise all of these assets.
- Determine the decedent’s debts and pay them, pay the income and estate taxes and other expenses of administration according to the property priority of ppayment
- Distribute the remaining assets to the rightful heirs or beneficiaries.
Now it is important to know that this process can be expedited in some cases, but when there are significatn assets and several beneficiaries it can get complicated. But the sooner all beneficiaries are in agreement, the quicker and the smoother the process.
It is also helpful that all heirs and their spouses have easy access to email, faxes and an overnight mail service.
The basic steps will include:
- Proving the Will
- Appointing a Personal Representative
- Taking inventory of the estate and record
- Notify all creditors of the death
- Pay all debts, fees, expenses, clains, and taxes
- Distribute the remaining monies.
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