Your Guide to California Probate
In a California probate, after the loss of a loved one, surviving relatives can be overwhelmed with grief and emotion. Not to mention facing the immediate problems of funeral arrangements. Days after the funeral, another reality settles in.
What happens to a deceased person’s property?
This raises not just the question of moving or disposing of personal items, selling vehicles or real estate, changing titles, and distributing personal property among heirs; it also raises the question of processing the decedent’s estate through California probate, according to the law. For unprepared survivors, this appears at first like a daunting and unpleasant prospect.
Probating the decedent’s estate can be a straightforward process with the guidance and support of experienced California probate attorney Scott Grossman.
An Overview of California Probate and what it means:
Probate means “proving the Will” of the deceased person through court proceedings. It is a process that directs you on how to:
- Establish what should or should not go through formal probate.
- Designate the person who will represent the estate to manage the succession process.
- List the decedent’s assets in various categories of ownership, joint tenancy, tenancy in common, and or living trust property.
- Determine the value of all non-monetary property.
- Find and list all debts and obligations unpaid at the decedent’s date of death.
- Identify the creditors and their order of priority.
- Pay all debts and taxes as soon as estate funds become available, in order of priority.
- Find the Will, determine its validity, and establish the list of all the beneficiaries and heirs.
- Administer the estate during the process to preserve its value and prepare for payment of debts and distribution.
- Once all creditors are paid, the beneficiaries can be transferred.
If you are ready to start your case after reviewing our Guide to California Probate, then please give us a call or fill out our Get Help Now form. A comprehensive overview of California Probate is available on our website. Should you have additional questions about what happens next, check out our article on “What Happens to a Deceased Spouse or Deceased Beneficiary Share of an Estate?“