A death in the family is one of the most stressful events in anyone’s life. Not only is the family undergoing the grief and trauma of losing a loved one, but it also has to take care of funerary arrangements (which can often be fraught with emotional highs and lows) as well as deciding what to do with the deceased person’s belongings as well as debts. After a person passes away, his/her assets will usually get divided and distributed to whoever is named in this person’s will. This process is called a probate. All estates must be legally processed in a specific manner, but in general, these are the usual steps that a probate lawyer could help dealing with during the probate process:
1). Identifying a personal representative – if the deceased person’s will specifically appoints someone, then this person will be appointed to be the estate’s representative. If the deceased died without leaving a will, the court will then appoint someone to represent the estate, usually a living family member who volunteers to take up the responsibility. This person then will be sworn in and file the Petition for Probate of Will and Appoint of Personal Representation. This automatically starts the probate process.
1). Identifying a personal representative – if the deceased person’s will specifically appoints someone, then this person will be appointed to be the estate’s representative. If the deceased died without leaving a will, the court will then appoint someone to represent the estate, usually a living family member who volunteers to take up the responsibility. This person then will be sworn in and file the Petition for Probate of Will and Appoint of Personal Representation. This automatically starts the probate process.
