Fort Worth, TX asked in Estate Planning for California

Q: What paper do l file to have my Granny's will put inprobate

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1 Lawyer Answer
Jeffrey Louis Gaffney
Jeffrey Louis Gaffney
Answered
  • Estate Planning Lawyer
  • Carlsbad, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: You need to go your county Probate Court's web site and they will give you very exact instructions.

There are three different levels of Probate process in California. Which level you use depends on what assets your grandmother left behind. If she left no real estate and only moderate assets, then you can probably get away with one of the abbreviated two levels. You will have to take a sharp pencil and add up what she left behind.

If her assets are high enough, or if there is any real estate involved, then you have to do real, long unpleasant Probate. You can pass that job to an attorney but the costs start at 4% of the GROSS value of the estate (not the value NET of loans and mortgages), so it can be expensive.

Your basic petition is a form DE-111 which is the petition to open the Probate and have the court approve the WIll as valid and appoint the Personal Representative (executor). The web site will tell you what lesser forms are needed with it. You really need to buy a "How To" book on the process to make sure you don't miss anything important.

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