In Edwardsville, Illinois, probate is the process through which a Court decides if a will is valid or not.

As part of this procedure, the court in Edwardsville, Illinois has various important responsibilities. Most especially, it has to decide if the will is valid, and consider evidence that it is not (if any such evidence exists). The probate court then has to guarantee that the property is distributed in an orderly manner, as close to the terms of the will (assuming it is valid) as possible.

Wills typically name the person who is to serve as executor of the estate. If no executor is named, the Edwardsville, Illinois court will appoint an executor. This is typically the person who stands to gain the most if the will is found to be legitimate.

The general duty of the executor is to serve as the living incarnation of the estate. Their job is to commence probate proceedings, and see them to completion. If an executor has to be appointed by the court, it will typically be the person who stands to inherit the most from the will, as he or she has an incentive to make every effort to avoid delay.

Duties of the Executor in Edwardsville, Illinois

Executors of estates have a various distinct responsibilities. First, the executor must start the probate proceedings. Probate almost always needs to be finalized before the property in an estate can be released according to the terms of the will.

Furthermore, the executor has to make sure that the decedent's relatives and other people named in the will have notice of the testator's death, typically through the filing of a copy of the official death certificate.

The executor will also have to collect and make accessible a list of all of the decedent's debts and assets, as well as a list of those who stand to inherit from the decedent.

Because the executor serves as the living representation of the decedent's estate, they are solely accountable for proving the validity of the will. This is a lot of work, but because executors are typically chosen based on how much they stand to inherit from a will once its validity is confirmed, they have a good incentive to see the process to finalization.

How Can A Edwardsville, Illinois Lawyer Help?

Because of the difficulties involved in probate, it would be smart to hire a reliable Edwardsville, Illinois probate lawyer, especially if you are the executor of an estate and unsure how to proceed.