Probate in California - Moreno Valley Probate Lawyer
In Moreno Valley, as in the rest of California, any estate valued at over $100,000 must go through probate. This process is designed to wrap up the legal and financial affairs of the decedent, and to ensure that if any taxes or other debts are owed, they are paid before the assets of the estate are distributed amongst its heirs.
Probate is often a complicated and lengthy process-in California, the average estate will be in probate for between six and twelve months. Larger estates or those which owe federal estate taxes can take up to two years to go through probate. The executor of an estate is ultimately responsible for ensuring that probate is completed, and for managing an estate while probate is in progress. The executor of an estate may be named in the deceased's will, or can be court-appointed if none was named.
There are many tasks and duties associated with probate, many of which can be time-consuming not to mention difficult to manage effectively. When the deceased lived in Moreno Valley, probate must be managed through the Superior Court of Riverside County. Particularly for an executor who lives out of state, and in most other situations as well, the simplest solution is to hire a Moreno Valley probate lawyer to take care of all of these details. Probate fees are relatively inexpensive-in California, there is a statutory fee code, and in most cases determines how much you will pay a probate attorney. For example, according to this code, a $100,000 estate will mean paying fees of $4,000.
A probate lawyer may carry out most of the tasks associated with probate, including:
1. Filing a petition to begin probate;
2. Creating an appraised inventory of the deceased's estate;
3. Locating heirs of the estate;
4. Filing documents at the Superior Court;
5. Calculating any debts and taxes owed;
6. Arranging for management of the estate's assets while probate is in progress;
7. Attending probate hearings; and
8. Filing a petition to close probate so that the assets of the estate can be distributed.
Probate hearings are typically conducted according to a strict time-table. The hearings themselves are usually quite short, however if any documents are filed late, or if any of these tasked are not completed on time, probate can be delayed by up to several months. Hiring a probate lawyer takes all the guesswork out of the process-an experienced probate lawyer is much better equipped to handle the large number of tasks associated with the process, and ensures that probate is completed in the minimum amount of time.
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