If you are looking into Probate, it means you have lost someone close to you. Our office is here to make this process as easy as possible for you because we understand that you may already be going through a lot. Our goal is to help you transfer your loved one’s assets to those that are set to inherit in the least amount of time.
WHAT IS PROBATE?
Probate originally meant the judicial process of proving that a decedent’s Last Will & Testament was real. Today, it still means that, but it encompasses much more than merely proving a Will is valid. In fact, you can Probate an estate when there is no Will which is called an intestate estate. Probate is the court-supervised process of identifying and gathering the assets of a decedent, paying the decedent’s debts and distributing the balance to his or her beneficiaries. In general, the decedent’s assets are used first to pay the cost of the probate proceeding, then are used to pay the decedent’s funeral expenses, then the decedent’s outstanding debts, and the remainder is distributed to the decedent’s beneficiaries.
In Florida, there are two primary forms of probate: formal administration and summary administration. Note that in Florida, an attorney is required to handle either form of probate. A summary administration can be completed much quicker than a formal administration. You can do a summary administration if the estate has less than $75,000 in assets not including the Homestead property of the decedent which is considered exempt or the decedent’s death occurred more than two (2) years before the probate begins. If there are over $75,000 in assets, you will likely have to do a formal administration. Regardless of the type of administration, our office can assist you. A summary administration could take months to complete but is much shorter than Formal Administration which could potentially take years to complete. This is because during Formal Administration, the Estate will go through the entire Florida Probate process, including the designation of a personal representative of the estate, who may have to perform such duties as filing Letters of Administration, Letters to Creditors, the distribution of assets, the payment of debts and taxes, and more under the supervision of the Court. However, the probate of each estate is different, and these tasks may or may not need to be performed at the discretion of the Court.
