Many people have asked me about Probate Cases, what are they, and is there a way that I can learn more about a probate case without paying my attorney for the time? Unless you have had to deal with the ins-&-outs of a probate legal case most people don’t know what a probate case is.
Probate cases are opened when someone dies with or without a will in place when there are assets that need to be divided up and when there are bills to be paid off using the assets for payment. Get this, there is not a probate case if there is one remaining party to whom the assets and bills will flow. Nor is there a probate case if all the assets are in trust funds.
What is a probate case? It’s important to know that probate cases are made public. That means that the public can look up all probate cases. They can see how much the assets might be worth and how much is owed to different parties. The public can see who the heirs are and their addresses. As a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist I can look all of this information up from my office computer. The masses – most of the public has to go to the courthouse to look up the information on the computer terminals there.
If you are dealing with a probate case and have questions, please feel free to contact me. I work on probate cases behind the scenes and might be able to help you out and even steer you toward a good attorney who is well versed in handling probates.
Many people who inherit probate properties are motivated to sell a house for two main reasons:
1) They have inherited a lot of debt along with the house and cannot afford to pay off the debt and keep the home at the same time. So most need to sell the house in order to pay off the debt, and then they can pocket any money in excess of the debt.
2) The other reason is because many times there are multiple beneficiaries who inherit the house, but won’t be living in the house. Therefore most people decide to sell the house, pay off the debt and split the excess proceeds.
PROBATE CASES
Probate is the court-supervised procedure that determines the organization of a deceased person’s assets, taxes and debts owed and the distribution of remaining assets to the beneficiaries. Probate cases include both situations when a will was written and those cases where a will was never written. If assets are remaining in the decedent’s name, then there is a probate case.
Grace Widdicombe is a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist
THE LINGO
Personal Representative:
You may have heard of “Executor” or “Executrix” as the person who is tasked with handling the decedent’s estate, but in probate cases this person is called the Personal Representative (PR).
Intestacy:
An estate is intestate when the deceased did not provide a will before dying. Intestacy is the condition of the estate of a person who dies without having in force a valid will or other binding declaration. Alternatively this may also apply where a will or declaration has been made, but only applies to part of the estate; the remaining estate forms the “intestate estate”.
Types of Probate Cases:
In Oregon there are 2 types of probate cases; regular and small estates. Each type of probate proceeding has its own rules and procedures. Generally speaking, certain documents must be filed with the Court and notice has to be provided to the heirs, the creditors and the state of Oregon.
Note: Probate is only necessary when assets are solely in the decedent’s name at the time of death. Probate is usually required to change title to real estate, financial accounts and other formally-titled assets.