Can You Procrastinate Your Way Out of Probate?

Estate planning is a long list of tasks that everyone puts off. If you have the patience for such a slow-paced drama, then it can be interesting to speculate about which of the tasks the testator will get around to completing before he or she goes the way of all flesh. Unfortunately, death does not wash away all the obligations that you have been putting off; some of them fall to the personal representative of your estate. For example, dead people are still on the hook for tax obligations they incurred during their last year of life. If you think you can think of ways to put off writing your will, think of the excuses you can come up with why today is not the day to open your deceased relative’s estate for probate. Google will try to motivate you by telling you that you and your other family members cannot inherit property from the decedent until his or her estate settles at the end of probate, but what if the decedent lived and died a mess? What if there are only debts, disputes, and clutter? Can’t you just avoid the whole issue until there is no one left alive who remembers that the decedent and his or her estate ever existed? There are some compelling reasons to go through the probate process for a deceased family member’s estate, even if the decedent’s financial circumstances were less than glamorous, and even if you have tons of other problems to deal with. For help summoning the courage to initiate probate for a family member’s estate and navigating the legal issues involved with it, contact a Bronx probate attorney.

When Inaction Is Your Worst Enemy

There is no deadline for opening an estate for probate; some people wait years until after a relative’s death before starting probate, even though this can make matters more complicated. The optimistic way of looking at this is that, no matter how long you have waited to start probate, you can still do it now.

Consider that, when someone has died and the person’s estate has not gone through probate, the property remains in limbo. Creditors can keep trying to collect payment on debts that the decedent still had outstanding at the time of his or her death. One of the purposes of probate is to tell creditors that it is their last chance to seek repayment of the decedent’s debts. After the estate settles, even if it settles insolvent, you can tell the creditors to get lost.

Another reason not to procrastinate is if the decedent left a will. If you have the will, take it to the probate court without delay. If you don’t, someone else can claim that the decedent died without a will and request that the probate court distribute the estate’s property according to the laws of intestate succession.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can help you be strategic about probate cases that are both uninteresting and terrifying.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

codes.findlaw.com/ny/estates-powers-and-trusts-law/ept-sect-5-1-1-a.html