In Lino Lakes, Minnesota, probate is the procedure in which a court validates or voids a will.

As part of this procedure, the court in Lino Lakes, Minnesota 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.

The executor of the estate is often named in the will. If not, the probate court in Lino Lakes, Minnesota will name will appoint a person to serve as executor. This is normally the person who stands to inherit the most under the will.

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 Lino Lakes, Minnesota

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

The executor also has to provide those with a direct interest in the will notice that the decedent has deceased, by filing an official death certificate.

There may be numerous people who are entitled to take under a testator's will, with which the testator may have fallout out of touch years ago. This can make them hard to find, but they need to be found, nonetheless. To that end, the executor is obligated to make a list of everyone who might be able to inherit, whether they're named in the will, or closely related to the testator. Furthermore, they have to make known all of the decedent's major assets and debts.

Additionally, the executor is obligated to take the lead in showing the validity of the will, effectively acting as the living embodiment of the decedent's estate. The executor is normally the person who will inherit the most once the will goes through probate, so they have a good reason to put in the work to do this.

How Can A Lino Lakes, Minnesota Lawyer Help?

Because of the intricacies inherent in the probate process, it is a good idea to hire an accomplished Lino Lakes, Minnesota probate lawyer, particularly for the executors of estates.