Possible Outcomes Following a Status Hearing in Probate Court
What is a status hearing in probate court?
Disputes among the beneficiaries and other interested parties occur more often when an estate takes too long to administer. Consequently, those who stand to inherit assets from the final distribution of property have an incentive to want the probate administration to speed up. When the administration is taking longer than a year or 18 months, interested parties can step in and use the probate court to keep things moving. A status hearing in probate court is held for all interested parties to attend and voice concerns as part of the administration process. Finally, after the hearing, the judge will consider all of the arguments and issue a ruling.
Certain aspects of the ruling could include
The court may:
- Order that the estate remains open for the amount of time indicated by the personal representative.
- Impose restrictions that they feel are reasonable for the beneficiaries and other interested parties.
- Decide that the delay is unnecessary and order the personal representative to move on with the process.
- Have the personal representative’s compensation reduced.
- Order the personal representative’s letters are revoked and a new person to fill the role.
- If the personal representative still has not filed a status report, the court can order it. They can also cite the representative so that he or she must go to court to comply.
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