After the death of an estate owner, the estate will enter the probate process. The probate process is a court-supervised process of gathering all the assets of the estate and disseminating them to creditors and inheritors, where all affairs regarding the estate are resolved. The probate process involves collecting the deceased person’s assets, liquidating liabilities, paying necessary taxes, and distributing property and other assets to heirs or designees. Some states have adopted the Uniform Probate Code created by the Uniform Law Commission, in an effort to simplify probate processes; however, Nevada has not adopted this set of uniform codes.
Intestate Probate: When a person dies without a Will it is called an intestate probate. An intestate probate can be a long and difficult process through probate court. Click to learn more about intestate probate.
Testate Probate: When a deceased person has a Will the probate is called testate probate, and the proceedings are usually much faster and less expensive than intestate probate. Typically a testator’s Will designates an Executor, or personal representative, to administer all the matters regarding the estate of the deceased. Click to learn more about testate probate.
Estate administration is executed by the appointed Executor who is required to meet all the legal requirements under the applicable state, federal and international law, as necessitated by the individual circumstances. Some of these issues involve filing a probate petition with the probate court, notifying debtors, creditors, heirs, and tax authorities (and perhaps others) of the death, and to address all the issues, concerns, challenges, disputes and legal requirements connected to the estate.
Frequently, because of the complex nature of these issues, a probate attorney is appointed as the executor in the Will or the executor may hire an experienced probate attorney to assist in meeting the estate administration requirements. In all cases, a probate court will either approve of the executor named in the Last Will and Testament or will appoint a qualified individual to impartially administer all the affairs of the estate to complete the probate and estate administration process.
Attorney Gregory S. Smith will handle all aspects of probate and estate administration, from the appointment of an executor to helping that executor throughout the process. Attorney Greg Smith will address many issues to ensure an easy transition, here are just a few:
Consulting and preparing for the probate and estate administration process with an experienced probate and estate planning attorney will help mitigate these issues in a timely and cost-effective manner. Probate attorney Greg Smith will satisfy all legal requirements, taxes, debt settlements, and preserve the remaining value of the estate, in order to maximize the value to be transferred to the inheritors.
Due to the complex nature of applicable tax and other probate and estate laws, as well as legal challenges to the Will by either creditors, disgruntled family members or others, a probate attorney should be involved at the earliest stage of this process prior to the drafting of the Will and the death of the owner(s) of the estate.
Contact Smith & Shapiro to ensure a safe transferal of your estate through estate planning. If you need help through the probate process or estate administration contact us today at (702) 318-5033. Smith & Shapiro is conveniently located with an office in Las Vegas and Henderson, Nevada. We are open 8:00am – 5:00pm, Monday – Friday.