Q: So my dad had a living trust - is that what we submit to the court?
A: If done properly you will not need court supervision. If things were left out of the trust you might need to file probate. You should have it reviewed by an estate planning attorney.
A:
One of the main reasons why a person prepares a "Living Trust" is to avoid the need to probate a will. Consequently, you may not need to submit anything to the Probate Court.
However, if your Dad owned property that was not owned by the "Living Trust", then you will need to file a Petition in Probate Court and attach a copy of the will. The Probate process will allow you to properly transfer the property to the heirs named in the will.
Please keep in mind that it is typical for a will that is prepared at the same time as a "Living Trust" to use "pour-over" provisions. This means that the will names the "Living Trust" as the primary heir. Once the Probate process is finished - the property is transferred to the "Living Trust" - then the Trustee of the "Living Trust" makes the final distributions of the property.
If you have additional questions, you may want to contact a lawyer to have them review the paperwork for you.
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