Wills & Probate
Everyone with any property should have a will that directs how that property is to pass after the life of the person signing it. A person creating a will is known as a “Testator.”
A will does two very important things:
- Declares a person’s heirs who will inherit from the person signing the will.
- Passes a person’s property to those persons indicated in the will. If the person receiving the property is a minor, the will can provide for a trust to hold the property until the receiving person reaches 21 or whatever age the testator deems appropriate.
If a person dies without a will, the laws of the state where the property is located determines who is that person’s heirs and how much that person(s) is to receive. An additional factor to consider is the cost incurred to probate an estate for a person who has died without a will (or intestate). To probate an intestate estate is more expensive than a probate of a written will.
Not only can wills create trusts for disabled and underage heirs, but Mr. Skipworth can prepare a trust instrument that can take the place of a will and avoid probate in the proper circumstances.
After a person’s death, if he/she had property it is necessary to probate the person’s estate in order to make sure the property passes to the decedent’s heirs either as indicated in the decedent’s will or as declared by a probate court as prescribed by law if there is no will. This is important if the decedent owned real estate (i.e. home, land, buildings) or had bank or security accounts.
A probate is a court proceeding conducted to distribute a decedent’s property according to the decedent’s will or law.
Mr. Skipworth has many years of experience in preparing wills, trusts and probating matters. Please call to discuss your case at 915-493-8545.