In Traverse City, Michigan, probate is the procedure in which a court validates or voids a will.

As part of this procedure, the court in Traverse City, Michigan has many important responsibilities. Most notably, 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.

Normally, the executor of the estate is named in the will. However, if nobody is named as an executor, the probate court in Traverse City, Michigan will assign an administrator to serve the role as the executor. This is normally the closest adult relative of the decedent, or the person who stands to inherit the most.

Because the executor is responsible for really initiating probate proceedings and seeing them to finalization, the person chosen for this role is often the one who stands to inherit the most from the will - giving them an incentive to put in the necessary time and effort.

Duties of the Executor in Traverse City, Michigan

The executor has numerous duties concerning the will. First of all, they have to actually initiate the probate hearings with the court, and this procedure has to be done before the will takes effect.

Furthermore, it's the executor's job to notify all concerned parties that the person who made the will has died. "Interested parties" are typically people who are named in the will, or who would inherit the estate if the decedent had died without a will.

The executor will also have to gather 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 personification 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 normally 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 Traverse City, Michigan Lawyer Help?

Because this can be (though isn't always) a fairly intricate process, it's a good idea to get a seasoned probate lawyer in Traverse City, Michigan, especially if you find yourself being the executor of an estate, and aren't sure how to proceed.