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Legal Assistance For Estate Administration And Probate

Having a loved one pass away can be incredibly difficult. In addition to dealing with the emotional loss of losing a loved one, it’s likely you will have to figure out how to carry on with things like finances, asset management, paying bills and getting your loved one’s assets where they need to go.

Take the weight off your shoulders, and get a lawyer who understands the probate process. From the moment your loved one passes away, there are multiple deadlines and clocks that start. The attorneys of Riley & Ahler P.C. can help you open an estate and walk you through the probate process, to ensure that assets end up where the decedent intended them to go and put you in a secured position to close the estate.

What Is Involved In Estate Administration?

Although every estate is different, the basic principles of an estate administration are the same:

  1. Inventory the decedent’s estate: If you have been named a personal representative, your first job will be to create a list of every asset the decedent held in their name at the time they died. This is important because you have to be able to tell the court, as well as the heirs, what assets are in the estate.
  2. File the will with the court: In Indiana, a will cannot be admitted to probate if it isn’t filed within three years after the decedent passes away. As such, you will need to have your attorney not only file a petition to open the estate but also actually file the will itself.
  3. Create a list of all debts and creditors: You’ll need to make a list of all debts and creditors the decedent had at the time of their death, as you will have to give those creditors notice that the estate has been opened. By doing this, you start the clock for creditors to get their claims filed with the court.
  4. Pay creditors: Perhaps you will get lucky and the decedent did not owe anyone any money at the time of their death, but in the event you get a creditor that files a claim in the estate, you will have to first make sure that the claim is legitimate and then get the claim paid.
  5. Distribute assets: Our office always instructs our clients not to distribute assets until all of the creditors are paid. There is nothing worse than having assets distributed then having to go back to an heir to inform them that they actually have to give assets back because a creditor is demanding payment. As such, you will not want to distribute assets until all claims are paid.
  6. Final accounting: In Indiana, you will have to file a final accounting with the court in which your estate is administered in a supervised capacity. If the estate is administered in an unsupervised estate, you will just have to provide an accounting to the heirs but not to the court.
  7. Close the estate: Although a number of issues can arise that would cause an estate to be open for several years, Indiana law favors getting an estate closed within a year. Although you may get an extension, you should try to get the estate through probate as quickly as possible.

Counsel And Support For Probate Duties

The administration of an estate is going to be unique for every set of circumstances. However, one thing that each estate requires is that you seek a competent attorney who can not only guide you through the process but also explain the process.

If you have been chosen as an executor of a will or personal representative in the absence of a will, call our office to discuss how we can help you. We handle probate and estate administration in Jasper County and the surrounding jurisdictions of Northwest Indiana. To arrange a free consultation, call 219-964-4156 or contact us online.