What does probate mean and how is it different than estates or planning?
- Probate generally refers to the process of administering one’s estate when someone passes away
- A probate court appoints someone to run the estate, or administer the estate, or probate process
- This person is typically called or referred to as an executor of the will, an estate executor, or, in Florida probate, the Personal Representative
- The probate process can occur if there is a will or if there is no will
- The executor of the will or the probate process has a job to do: gather assets, pay off valid claims like funeral expenses and last credit card bills, electric bills, maybe the mortgage,….oh yes, don’t forget the IRS for the final year’s taxes and those probate fees and Florida probate lawyers
- When this is done, the estate can then distribute the assets to the beneficiaries……….providing that there are assets left and there is not pending probate litigation.
- Estate planning refers to the process of getting your legal and financial affairs in order so that when you pass, your money and assets go as you planned. Estate planning can include writing a will or revocable trust, created joint bank accounts or joint tenancies, or naming beneficiaries of certain assets like your retirement account, life insurance or IRA. These beneficiary assets are often called will substitutes
- Estate planning occurs when you are alive, and is entirely different than so called after death or post mortem planning