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Last year my father died. He had a simple do it yourself will,

 

Customer Question

Last year my father died. He had a simple do it yourself will, notorized. He left all assests jointly to me and my brother. He also named me executor. Do we have to go to court to valadate this?

Submitted: 324 days and 19 hours ago.
Category: Estate Law
Value: $25
Status: CLOSED

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

*This chat is not intended as legal or tax advice. It is general information that may or may not apply to your situation and should not be relied upon*



Welcome,

My condolences. It is my goal to deliver information in five-star manner.

I am a licensed attorney but I am not your attorney. The law does not allow me to provide legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship on this public forum.


If at any time the information which I provide is not clear to you or does not fully answer your question, please ask me for clarification by using the reply button.

It does not appear that probate or court action is required.

Let me explain.

Simply put, probate is the legal process of wrapping up a person's affairs, such as marshaling the assets, paying bills and distributing assets.

A probate is required if there are any assets in the decedent's estate that do not pass by operation of law. Items that are held jointly with right of survivorship, transfer on death properties and life insurance to a beneficiary pass by operation of law to the survivor and therefore are not considered assets subject to probate.



I think this is what you wanted to know. Please let me know if I have answered your question


Thank you in advance for remembering to rate my service. If you experience difficulty using the rating buttons, please let me know as JustAnswer pays me for my time only if a positive rating registers.

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Estate Law
Pos. Feedback: 98.7 %
Accepts: 2768
Answered: 7/1/2012

Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.

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Customer replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

His property was not listed with us as joint owners. He simply stated in his will that all his assests are to be divided 50/50.

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

Thank you for your clarification. I had interpreted your statement that "He left all assests jointly to me and my brother." to mean that you owned the property jointly. However if the assets in question were in your father's name alone, it is necessary to open a probate proceeding in the county of your father's residence

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Estate Law
Pos. Feedback: 98.7 %
Accepts: 2768
Answered: 7/1/2012

Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.

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Customer replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

How time consuming and what is the cost of probate? He left 1 home. His bank accounts he had me as joint owner.

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

The bank accounts would not go through probate since they were jointly owned as explained in my first answer.
You will need to check with local counsel to determine the exact cost of probate but typically a single asset probate would not be very time consuming or costly. Most importantly, probate would be the only way to transfer the house titled solely in your father's name to you and your brother

I think this is what you wanted to know. Please let me know if I have answered your question

Thank you in advance for remembering to rate my service. If you experience difficulty using the rating buttons, please let me know as JustAnswer pays me for my time only if a positive rating registers.
FiveStarLaw41091.7209635069

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Estate Law
Pos. Feedback: 98.7 %
Accepts: 2768
Answered: 7/1/2012

Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.

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Customer replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

Thanks. Now i am very clear on the property issue! Until we actually do the transfer...how do we pay the property taxes? In his name? Thats what we have been doing.

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied324 days and 19 hours ago.

Yes you can continue to pay the taxes in your father's name until the transfer is complete.
I do suggest that you contact your insurance agent to assure that your father's homeowners coverage would continue to protect the property
If I can assist you in the future, you may contact me by starting a new page and begin your new question with "For FiveStarLaw"


Thank you in advance for remembering to rate my service. If you experience difficulty or cannot see the rating buttons, please let me know as JustAnswer pays me for my time only if a positive rating registers.
FiveStarLaw41091.7404415162

Expert TypeAttorney
Category: Estate Law
Pos. Feedback: 98.7 %
Accepts: 2768
Answered: 7/1/2012

Experience: 25 years of experience helping people like you.

Ask this Expert a Question >
Customer replied324 days and 18 hours ago.

Does the law require us to file probate within a certain time frame?

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied324 days and 17 hours ago.


No time frame is required to file the probate

Can you please tell me whether you are able to see the rating buttons on your side

Customer replied323 days and 20 hours ago.

I have hit thw rating buttons several times....it only acknowledged going thru once. I gave u positive ratings on all replies!

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Expert:  FiveStarLaw replied323 days and 16 hours ago.

Debbie – Thank you so much for letting me know

If I can be of assistance in the future, begin your question with: "For FiveStarLaw"

 
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