Probate is a court-supervised process for identifying and gathering the decedent’s assets; paying taxes, claims and expenses; and distributing assets to beneficiaries. 

Probate is necessary to wind up the affairs the decedent leaves behind. Probate also serves to transfer assets from the decedent’s individual name to the proper beneficiary. 

If there is a surviving spouse and no lineal descendants, the surviving spouse takes all. If there is a surviving spouse and lineal descendants, the surviving spouse takes the first 20,000 of the probate estate plus one-half of the rest of the probate and the lineal descendant(s) share the remaining half.  If there is no surviving spouse, but there are lineal descendants, the lineal descendants share the estate, which is broken into shares. If the decedent left no surviving spouse or lineal descendants, the probate property goes to the decedent’s surviving parents, and if none, then to the decedent’s brothers and sisters and descendants of any deceased brothers or sisters. The law provides for further disposition if the decedent is survived by none of these.

Generally, probate assets are those assets in the decedent’s sole name at death or otherwise owned solely by the decedent and which contain no provision for automatic succession of ownership at death. 

The probate process can take between 6-9 months after the will and petition are filed. Under certain circumstances, The process can take longer depending on the complexity of the case.