When a deceased person’s assets and debts end up in a superior court for probate, that court appoints someone as a personal representative of the deceased to administrate his or her assets and debts. The representative will be the one in charge of paying the deceased’s debts and distributing any assets that are left over. Ideally, a person’s estate will not end up in probate court, but unless the person has seen to it that his or her affairs are in order, it will. An attorney that handles Estate And Probate in Gilbert AZ explains how probate law works in Arizona.
Probate is handled in three ways in Arizona: informal probate, formal probate and supervised probate. Most of the probate cases in Arizona end up being informal. This means there is very little court supervision. The only persons or organizations who can file for an informal probate are members of the deceased person’s family, such as the spouse or sibling, a person named in the will as the deceased person’s personal representative, a creditor, if 45 days has passed since the date of death, or if the deceased person is a veteran, the department of veteran’s services.
An estate will require a formal probate when there is a question of a will’s validity, or of the one chosen to be the personal representative. It will also be required for heirs to be identified if that comes into question. A judge is brought in to oversee this type of probate. When it comes to a supervised probate, the judge will oversee everything concerning the estate, including the appointing of attorneys and personal representatives. This is just the tip of the iceberg of what needs to be known about Estate And Probate in Gilbert AZ.
Janet R. Feeley has been practicing law in the Gilbert, Arizona area for over 12 years. The law firm is dedicated to helping clients with estate and probate issues, and also helps clients with family law matters, including divorce and child custody. If you are experiencing issues where you need legal services to step, visit The law firm of Janet R. Feeley L.L.C. Browse website.
