In Castle Hills, Texas, probate is a legal procedure that a court must go through before giving effect to a will. Before putting a will into effect, a court has to determine that it is valid.

As part of this process, the Castle Hills, Texas probate court will determine the validity of the will, inventory the decedent's assets and debts, and then, finally, distribute the estate according to the will, assuming it is found to be valid.

Wills commonly name a person as the executor of the estate. If not, the court in Castle Hills, Texas will name one. This is most often the adult individual who stands to inherit the most money or property from the will.

The executor is the person responsible for initiating the probate proceedings. The person who would inherit the most from the will is appointed, because they have the greatest inducement to move the process along as quickly as possible, so they can get their inheritance.

Duties of the Executor in Castle Hills, Texas

The executor has many duties with respect to the will. First, it is his or her job to actually initiate probate proceedings, which often must be finished before the will is given effect.

They further are required to provide notice to the people with a direct interest in the estate that the decedent has died, normally by filing a death certificate.

There may be several 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. Additionally, they have to make known all of the decedent's major assets and debts.

Additionally, the executor is obligated to take a leading role in showing the validity of the will. The executor obviously has an incentive to see the process through, since they cannot inherit until probate is complete.

How Can A Castle Hills, Texas Lawyer Help?

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