It has been said that Probate is a lawsuit against yourself, paid with your own money, for the benefit of your creditors. Most of the time, the people who go through probate aren’t there by choice. Probate comes as a result of not being proactive, and the good news is that Probate is easily avoided.
Probate is time-consuming and expensive and results in a public trial with public information. This means that anybody can see who ultimately inherits your assets and may even be able to see financial details. Probate actually invites people to voice any concerns they may have regarding the estate. We recommend avoiding probate at any cost.
Probate, generally, is used in cases involving people without estate plans and people with only wills in place. In the state of Oklahoma, having a will means your assets will most likely have to go through probate. This is why Ball Morse Lowe strongly recommends creating a trust.
In probate cases involving wills, the “testator”, the deceased person with the will, transfers responsibility for their assets to the “executor”, the person responsible for starting the probate process. The will typically states who the testator intends the executor to be.
The executor must file the will for probate in Oklahoma. Doing so grants the executor the ability to act on behalf on the testator. The executor is under a duty to distribute the assets pursuant to the terms of the will or the direction of the court.
Whether a will was set in place or not, it is strongly recommended to avoid the probate process altogether. To gain a better understanding of the probate process and how to avoid it, call Ball Morse Lowe today at 405.701.5355 or email clientintake@bml.law. We look forward to hearing from you. www.bml.law