I’ve been appointed as the executor of my probate with the courts, what is the next step in the probate process?
Once appointed, the court will issue letters of administration if there is no will or letters testamentary if there is a will. It is the piece of paper that you need to go to different financial institutions.
Many times our clients may be waiting to close escrow on the property when we get those and that’s a big day.
This starts a four-month-clock called the creditors period. During the creditors period (after being hired at least two months prior) usually, the house is sold, any bank accounts or vehicles or personal property are either sold or transferred according to whatever a will might say and any creditors can show up. It’s also the time during which we do the notice to the franchise tax board to the Department of Health Services.
We help out clients keep the errors and the beneficiaries with things like Notice of Proposed Action. We say, “Hey, we’re going to sell the house. Here’s how much it’s going to sell for. Here’s what the realtors are getting in terms of commissions.”
It’s a really transparent process. At the end of those four months, if everything has gone to plan, we file a final petition. We say, “Hey court, here’s all the things we did. You appointed us, we sold the house. Here’s the distribution that we’d like to do either according to the will or what the probate code says.” That’s usually set between two and four months after the creditors period.
Usually, the process takes between ten months and twelve months to close the probate. Once, the court approves the final order, we do distributions. Everyone signs a receipt and the administrator or executor is discharged and their job is complete. If you’ve just been appointed then you have about six to eight months left in this process.
