How to Do Probate Yourself in California and Why Choose a Lawyer is Best
Probate is difficult enough even when you aren’t navigating a family member’s death in California. The state probate system is heavy on deadlines, court filings, notices, asset collection, and legal responsibilities. People often wonder how to do probate yourself in California and save money, but this is not always a good idea. It’s often better to hire a Riverside, CA probate attorney.
What Does Probate Mean in California?
Probate is the court process of transferring a decedent’s property to heirs and beneficiaries, allowing for the filing of creditor claims, and determining who can act on behalf of the estate to carry out its administration. Check https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/life-events/what-is-probate to know more.
When there’s a will, the court may need to make a final determination regarding its validity and confirm a choice of personal representative. When there’s no will, California laws of descent and distribution will govern how the estate is distributed. Certain assets may not be subject to probate, such as accounts with beneficiaries, and real property held in joint tenancy or in trust. In some states, smaller estates can use an alternative procedure that’s more streamlined.
The first question is whether a full probate is even required.
How to Do Probate Yourself in California
Assuming probate is necessary, you will need to follow the steps laid out by the probate court. Those steps will probably include some, or all, of these:
- File a probate petition with the correct court.
- Notify the heirs, beneficiaries, and certain other interested parties.
- Show up to your initial court hearing.
- Get authority to begin acting on behalf of the estate.
- Locate and identify all of your decedent’s property and have it valued.
- Provide notice of the probate to creditors who may have a claim against the estate and deal with any creditor claims that are filed.
- Pay all valid debts and expenses incurred in probate, including any final income, estate, and gift taxes.
- Prepare and submit any accountings as required by the court.
- Ask the court to approve the payment to beneficiaries as outlined in the will or under California law.
- Petition the court to close the estate.
It’s not unusual for these steps to require numerous different forms and filing deadlines. A misspelled name, wrong notice of the hearing, and incomplete inventory may be reasons that your case ends up needing to be redone and you are delayed from closing the estate as quickly as possible.
When Might You Do Your Own Probate?
Probate of a small estate is a simple situation with little in the way of contested issues. That includes a situation where there is a valid will, few if any debts are owed by the estate, there is no dispute about who will get real property, and your beneficiaries are in agreement with one another.
But probate matters can become complicated very quickly. If you encounter a creditor claim or disputed claim, an unclear provision in a will or trust, the need to track down an asset, or if you are facing opposition from beneficiaries, that could create legal issues. A personal representative is required to perform his or her duties in the best interests of the estate’s beneficiaries and the estate, meaning that they must follow California fiduciary law. The cost in time and effort to rectify a personal representative’s error can be significant, not to mention liability issues.
Why Hire a Lawyer?
The value in choosing a Riverside, CA probate attorney becomes clear when you consider some of the above risks. A probate lawyer does more than just fill in paperwork. A probate lawyer will help guide the estate’s personal representative throughout the process, protect the estate from legal liability issues, and keep the case moving along toward final closure.
A Riverside, CA probate attorney can help with issues such as:
- Whether you really do need a probate of any kind
- Getting court forms prepared and filed
- Satisfying required notices of the probate
- Resolving creditors’ claims that are filed
- Identifying or locating estate assets, resolving disputes over property, or other issues
- Resolving beneficiary disputes over an estate
- And preparing final accountings and requests for distributions.
It could help to have knowledge of local practice standards. Probate laws (read more here) are the same throughout California, but it’s possible that a county may require the filing of a particular type of form or follow a certain procedure that may not be well-known. A local Riverside attorney with experience in California probate matters may be better equipped to handle filing mistakes or common delays.
The Right Way to Move Forward
If you want to know how to do probate yourself in California, then begin by locating the will, trust documents, bank accounts, property records, and other information regarding the debt and assets of the estate. Then, you can begin to decide if the estate might be simple enough to handle yourself.
It may be possible to do probate in California by yourself, in certain limited situations, although that may not be the right choice. In many cases, a Riverside CA probate attorney can help keep the process organized, secure, and less stressful during a hard time.
