Probate court and a Will

The probate of a will is all about proving its standing in a probate court. Basically, until a will has been probated in a probate court it is holds as much significance as a piece of paper. People can even face penalties if it is destroyed or not produced on time. If a will presented has been altered, a product of fraud or made under the influence of alcohol or drugs, then it cannot be used and very harsh fines will be bestowed on those people or peoples responsible.

 

As a general rule, the original document must be presented for probate in a probate court. Probate of a copy or duplicate of a will is not permitted unless the original will cannot be presented for a reason out of the control of the person responsible for it. If a properly proved copy or duplicate of a will that has been lost or destroyed is presented to the probate court, it may be admitted to probate; this is a matter that normally takes a bit of time though as normally it is the original or nothing. Some states have special proceedings to handle such occurrences. A thorough and diligent search for the will is necessary before a copy can be probated as a lost will.

 

Proceedings of a Probate Court

 

There are normally two options in a probate court – formal and informal. The formal procedure is a very expensive option, so expensive that some states even bypass it as probating the likes of estates could easily become a money eating process, and so informal procedures have become the norm in probate court, wiping out a huge chunk of the legal costs on both sides of the party. Smaller estates, especially, benefit from an informal probate proceeding.

 

In a formal probate proceeding in probate court, a hearing must be held to establish the death of the testator, the residency of the decedent, the validity of the will, its conformance with statutory requirements for its execution, and even be subject to proving the proficiency of the testator at the time the will was made. The attesting witnesses who were present at the time the will was made and who certifies that it was properly executed usually fulfill these requirements. Law prescribes the number of attesting witnesses. If fewer than the required number witnesses a will in a probate court, it will be declared void, and the testator's property will pass according to the laws of descent and distribution. When some or all of the witnesses to a will are unavailable, special steps are taken in probate court. If the required witnesses have died before the testator, the person offering the will must offer some sort of evidence of death, in addition to evidence of the genuineness of the signatures and any other proof of execution available. To simplify this situation of witness issues some probate courts permit the admission of "self-authenticating" wills. These wills contain a statement signed by the witnesses that attests to the competency of the testator and other statutory requirements. Self-authentication relieves the witnesses of the burden of appearing in court and the executor of costly procedures if the witnesses are unavailable.

 

In informal probate court proceedings, a hearing is never usually arranged. The executor files the death certificate and will, and also files it with a petition to admit the will for informal probate. As soon as the probate court has issued an informal probate, the executor files some forms that pay testament to the fact that notice has been given, the decedent’s creditors have been paid distributed accordingly.