Q: Can small Estate Application be converted to full probate if necessary?
First off, I just want to thank the attorneys in advance for taking time from their day to answer questions for people on this forum. It is greatly appreciated.
My situation is that right now we are in the beginning stages of trying to assess my late mothers assets and debts. We believe the assets are going to be way less than the 20k limit. However, if we discover more debt and have to sell the real property can the small estate be "upgraded" to full probate? The odds are very low we will need to do that. We also have one sibling that would like to buy another sibling's interest in the real property. Since that hasn't been brought into the estate would we have to wait 2 years to do that under the small estate filing?
A:
Yes it is possible to "upgrade" the estate, this would look exactly like filing an estate.
In order to protect the other sibling, you should post a notice to creditors in the approved newspaper of your county. This is not commonly without an actual estate but nothing should prevent it, and by doing so you can avoid the 2 years that you referenced.
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