1. Court supervised Process
2. Expensive
3. Time consuming (minimum 6 months)
4. Public Record
With or without a will, at death any property not held in a living trust or in joint tenancy or which will not pass by way of a beneficiary designation or a contractual arrangement, such as life insurance, will pass under the laws of intestate succession according to a statutory order of priority (generally spouse, children, parents and so on).
$100,000, is currently the threshold amount, in California, which is subject to probate administration. Probate is a court proceeding which determines the validity of a will and who is entitled to receive distributions of the decedent’s property either under that will or according to the laws of intestate succession.
The proceedings of the probate court are public record and anyone can have access to information about the nature and size of decedent’s estate as well as the identities of the beneficiaries. All heirs listed under the Will must be notified of the probate proceedings and may contest the provisions of the Will.
The probate proceedings are time consuming. Probates take a minimum of six (6) months and can take up to several years. Beneficiaries may not receive their share of the estate until the probate process is completed. Additionally, the continuation of a business which is a part of the decedent’s estate may be problematic during probate.
Attorney and Executor are entitled to receive the same fee, by law, unless compensation has been otherwise provided for. Attorneys and Executors are entitled to fees according to a statutory schedule. In addition to the statutory fees, attorneys and executors are entitled to extraordinary fees for services such as selling real property and preparing tax returns. The statutory fee which attorneys and executors are entitled to is a percentage of the appraised value of the estate assets without regard to encumbrances. The following charts show some of the statutory fees:
2. Expensive
3. Time consuming (minimum 6 months)
4. Public Record
With or without a will, at death any property not held in a living trust or in joint tenancy or which will not pass by way of a beneficiary designation or a contractual arrangement, such as life insurance, will pass under the laws of intestate succession according to a statutory order of priority (generally spouse, children, parents and so on).
$100,000, is currently the threshold amount, in California, which is subject to probate administration. Probate is a court proceeding which determines the validity of a will and who is entitled to receive distributions of the decedent’s property either under that will or according to the laws of intestate succession.
The proceedings of the probate court are public record and anyone can have access to information about the nature and size of decedent’s estate as well as the identities of the beneficiaries. All heirs listed under the Will must be notified of the probate proceedings and may contest the provisions of the Will.
The probate proceedings are time consuming. Probates take a minimum of six (6) months and can take up to several years. Beneficiaries may not receive their share of the estate until the probate process is completed. Additionally, the continuation of a business which is a part of the decedent’s estate may be problematic during probate.
Attorney and Executor are entitled to receive the same fee, by law, unless compensation has been otherwise provided for. Attorneys and Executors are entitled to fees according to a statutory schedule. In addition to the statutory fees, attorneys and executors are entitled to extraordinary fees for services such as selling real property and preparing tax returns. The statutory fee which attorneys and executors are entitled to is a percentage of the appraised value of the estate assets without regard to encumbrances. The following charts show some of the statutory fees:
| Gross Value of Estate Fees for Attorney & Executor | |
| $100,000 $300,000 $500,000 $700,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $2,000,000 $4,000,000 |
$4,000.00 $9,000.00 $13,000.00 $17,000.00 $21,000.00 $23,000.00 $33,000.00 $53,000.00 |
PC Sec. 10810 - Statutory Formula: 4% of 1st $100,000 3% of next $100,000 2% of next $800,000 1% of next $9 million .5% of next $15 million Reasonable amount after $25 million |
|
