California Probate Terms - California Estate Probate

If someone you know has died and you are the person in charge of the California Probate Estate, you will need to know exactly how to proceed to settle the estate quickly and without any problems. The best way to ensure that the legal processes are followed to the letter is to hire a California estate probate lawyer to help you through the legal system and ensure that the estate is handled correctly.

Once you have representation, your probate attorney will advise you to mail notices to all of the people named in the will, or to the legal heirs if there is no will. You will also be advised to publish this notice in the newspaper so that creditors will know about the hearing. This gives everyone a chance to object to the admission of the will and/or to your appointment as the personal representative.

The initial hearing for the California estate probate will take place a couple of weeks after the matter is filed with the courts. The Will should be validated at this hearing, and you will be appointed officially as the personal representative. For the remainder of the probate, you will be in charge of the estate of the deceased. You will identify the probate assets and take possession of them in the name of the estate, and will manage them until all debts have been settled and all tax returns, both California and federal, have been filed.

This process takes a little less than a year, and should be conducted under the legal advice of a California estate probate attorney who will help you determine what steps to take. In some cases, you may need to sell of real estate or other assets to pay the bills. You may also need to sell assets to properly fulfill the terms of the Will itself.

Once the debts and taxes have been paid, you must file a report with the correct California probate court detailing income received and payments made on behalf of the estate. Once this is done, the judge in charge of the case will authorize you as personal representative to distribute the remaining property among the hairs and organizations that are named in the Will. The property is transferred legally, and the job is done. This can be a tricky thing to handle on your own, especially if you have never probated an estate before, so be sure to turn to the advice of a reputable attorney to make sure that everything proceeds just as it should.

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