Probate Planning

How Pricey Can Probate Be?

The very short answer – estimate about 8% of your estate.

Fun Facts About Probate

The longest will ever probated was 1,066 pages and 95,940 words. An English woman, Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook, holds this record.

The shortest known wills are only three words long, reading, “all to son” and “all to wife.”

Probate is the court-supervised process by whichyour assets are gathered up and inventoried, any debts you have are paid, and any remaining assets are distributed. Most people want to avoid it because it is expensive, time consuming and public.

What is Probate?

The estate is valued by a probate referee and may be

challenged by any interested creditor.

The Longer Answer – Probate consists of court fees, fees for the attorney

and fees for the executor.

A rough estimate of 2% the size of the estate works

pretty well for an average estate, but closer to 4%

for smaller estates.

Once the value of the probate assets are computed,

both the Attorney and the Executor each get:

A. 4% of the first $100,000

B. 3% of the next $100,000

C. 2% of the next $800,000

D. 1% of the next $9,000,000

E. 0.5% of the next $15,000,000

F. Over $25 million a “reasonable” amount to be

determined by the court.

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#1. Fi le a probate pet i t ion a long wi th copy of the wi l l#2. Pet i t ions are send to everyone named in wi l l and intes ta te heirs#3. Copy of the pet i t ion must be publ i shed in a local newspaper#4. Court holds the pet i t ion for about 4 weeks#5. Court determines executor#6. Fi l ing of credi tor c la im ( i f appl icable)#7. Executor marshals a s set s and eva luates credi tor c la ims#8. Appraise as set s and chal lenges to wi l l addressed #9. Executor presents dis tr ibut ion plan#10. Court approves and es ta te i s di s tr ibuted#11. Probate i s f inal ly c losed!

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Each probate process is different depending on the complexity of the estate. Please see End-of-Life Planning Toolkit #3: Understanding Probate for an

in-depth explanation of probate.

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