What is probate? Probate is the court process of transferring the decedent’s assets to their heirs. Probate is organized based upon the value of the decedent’s assets. The higher the value, the longer and more expensive the process is in general. Full blown probates start when an estate has a value of $300,000.00 or more.
What do I have to do in probate? Generally, when you’re navigating through probate in Nevada, you are going to need the court to appoint a personal representative, which is also called an executor or an administrator of the estate. They’re in charge of managing the estate on behalf of the decedent. You’re also going to have to admit the last Will and Testament to probate if there is a Will.
Part of the job of the personal representative is also to handle the estate’s creditors. You will need to provide notice to creditors. When you go through the probate court, you’ve got to notice the creditors that the person has passed away and that you, as the personal representative, will be filing an inventory of the estate’s assets with the court. So the court knows what kind of assets and liabilities the decedent left behind. If there is real property of the decedent, then that will generally be handled through the probate process. Either you will sell the property in probate or, if it makes sense, and if you can legally transfer it to the right heir through probate, then you can also do that. It just depends on the situation. Finally, you’re going to be filing a final accounting of the estate assets. So after you’ve handled all the creditor claims, you figured out what the estate consists of, what the assets and liabilities are, then you have to submit a final accounting to the probate court.
To sum it up, the type of probate depends on how much the value of the estate is. If you’re valued in a very small amount, then you’re not going to be spending as much time and money in probate court. The higher the value of the estate, the more time and money generally that you’re going to be spending in court. As always, if you have any questions or you just want to talk to an attorney, we always offer complimentary 15 minute phone consults, so feel free to call our office and set one up.
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