^ Jump up to: a b For the United States, see e.g., "When Someone Dies - A Non-Lawyer's Guide to Probate in Washington, DC". Lawhelp.org. Council for Court Excellence. Retrieved 20 September 2017., Larson, Aaron (13 June 2017). "How Probate Works". ExpertLaw. Retrieved 20 September 2017., "Wills, Estates, and Probate". Judicial Branch of California. Retrieved 20 September 2017.

It should also be noted that there are ways to avoid probate, one of those being to create a living trust. Under Texas law, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own. You need to create a trust document (similar to a will) naming someone to take over as trustee after your death. Next – and this is a crucial requirement – you must transfer ownership of your property to yourself as trustee of the trust. Once that’s done, the property will be controlled by the terms of the trust. Upon your death, your successor trustee can transfer it to beneficiaries without probate court proceedings.
Life insurance serves as a source to pay death taxes and expenses, fund business buy-sell agreements, and fund retirement plans. If sufficient insurance proceeds are available and the policies are properly structured, any income tax on the deemed dispositions of assets following the death of an individual can be paid without resorting to the sale of assets. Proceeds from life insurance that are received by the beneficiaries upon the death of the insured are generally income tax-free.
Will contests are concerned only with external validity, such as failure of due execution, fraud, mistake, undue influence, lack of testamentary capacity, or lack of intent that the instrument be a will. Issues of internal validity, such as violation of the Rule against Perpetuities, must be raised in proceedings at a later stage of administration. Although a will has been probated as a genuine expression of the testator's intended distribution of property upon her or his death, the estate might be disposed of according to the laws of descent and distribution if the testamentary provisions violate the law.
Applications for probate are made to the probate office in the jurisdiction with which the deceased has a close connection, not necessarily where the person died. Normally, only the executor of a will can apply for a grant of probate, and it is their duty to obtain probate in a timely manner. Executors can apply for probate themselves (which is often done to reduce legal fees) or be represented by a lawyer. With the application for probate, the applicant must also provide the original of the will, an official death certificate (not the one issued by a medical professional), a copy of the death notice and a statement of the known assets and liabilities of the deceased estate. The applicant may also be required to have published a notice in a major newspaper of an intention to make the application for probate.
A party may challenge any aspect of the probate administration, such as a direct challenge to the validity of the will, known as a will contest, a challenge to the status of the person serving as personal representative, a challenge as to the identity of the heirs, and a challenge to whether the personal representative is properly administering the estate. Issues of paternity can be disputed among the potential heirs in intestate estates, especially with the advent of inexpensive DNA profiling techniques. In some situations, however, even biological heirs can be denied their inheritance rights, while non-biological heirs can be granted inheritance rights.[41]
Either a family attorney or an estate, or wills, attorney can help you prepare a living will, either as part of your general estate planning or as an individual document. The cost typically ranges from $250 to $500, depending on your attorney’s fees; some charge by the hour, while others have a flat rate for writing a living will. Some states require living wills to be notarized, which adds an average of $5 to $15. In a living will — also called an advanced healthcare directive — you specify whether you want to be kept on life support if you become terminally ill or lapse into a persistent vegetative state. You can also answer other important questions in a living will like your preferences for tube feeding, artificial hydration and pain medication in situations when you cannot communicate your wishes on your own.
Wills often contain instructions on who should be appointed legal guardian of the decedent's minor children. The probate court may investigate the qualifications of the proposed guardian before granting an order of appointment. When a will does not contain a guardianship provision, the court itself must determine, based on the best interests of the children, who should be appointed guardian.
An agreement among heirs and beneficiaries not to contest a will is a way to avoid a costly will contest proceeding. The heirs and beneficiaries negotiate a settlement that may defeat the intention of the testator in how the assets are distributed. A settlement will be valid if all interested parties agree, but it must not exclude anyone entitled to property under the will. Under some statutes the compromise or settlement must be submitted to the probate court for approval.

Before exploring the types of probate, we want to express our option that if you have been named as the executor of an estate, probating a will is not something that you should try to do alone. As the executor, you have the fiduciary responsibility to make sure all estate matters are handled properly, and experienced legal counsel is essential to avoid needless mistakes and delays in the probate process.

A grandfather may encourage his grandchildren to seek college or advanced degrees and thus transfer assets to an entity, such as a 529 plan, for the purpose of current or future education funding. That may be a much more tax-efficient move than having those assets transferred after death to fund college when the beneficiaries are of college age. The latter may trigger multiple tax events that can severely limit the amount of funding available to the kids.
This is commonly the closest relative, although that person can renounce their right to be administrator in which case the right moves to the next closest relative. This often happens when parents or grandparents are first in line to become the administrator but renounce their rights as they are old, don't have knowledge of estate law and feel that someone else is better suited to the task.[citation needed]
Believe it or not, you have an estate. In fact, nearly everyone does. To name a few examples, your estate includes your car, home, bank accounts, life insurance, and investments—and no matter how large or how modest—it is all part of your estate. But estate planning goes beyond your possessions: it is the steps people take during their lives to strategize and prepare for incapacity, illness, and passing on. Estate planning is ultimately taking care of your loved ones by taking care of yourself.