When a person has been appointed as an Executor under a Will they will sometimes need to obtain “Probate” of the Will, by making application to the Supreme Court.
A “Grant of Probate” simply means the formal approval by the Supreme Court to the last Will.
The formal approval allows an Executor to collect the assets, pay the debts of a deceased person and then to distribute the estate in accordance with the provisions of the Will.
Do I Need Probate?
You will always need probate if the home or other land being distributed under the Will is in the deceased’s sole name. If you own this land or property as joint tenant, with the deceased person, you will not need probate.
You might need probate to deal with other assets, like money in bank accounts or money from a life insurance policy.
To find out, you need to write to the bank, company or other institution who will tell you whether they require probate, before they will transfer the asset.
Joint tenants and tenants-in-common
If assets of the deceased were jointly owned as joint tenants (that is where the co-owners did not own distinct portions of the property ie no person has a separate share), on the death of one of the joint owners the property automatically passes to the remaining joint tenant
There would be no need for a grant of Probate, if all of the deceased’s assets were held as joint tenants with someone that survived them.
If real estate is held solely in the name of the deceased or a share of real estate is owned by the deceased, as tenants in common with someone else, a grant of probate will be required in order to deal with the asset.
The certificate of title for real estate will show if the property was held as joint tenants or as tenants in common.
What are Letters of Administration?
An alternative, to an application for a Grant of Probate is to apply for Letters of Administration. This is done where there is no Will or the Will is invalid or partially invalid.
What is an Executor?
An Executor is a person appointed in a Will to act in respect of the estate of the Will maker upon his or her death. An Executor is the legal personal representative of a deceased person.
When a person dies without a Will then an Administrator is the legal personal representative.
Grant of Probate Quotation
Costs are a guaranteed fixed fee to obtain the Grant of Probate for an uncontested application (no challenges to the Will) and in accordance with our standard terms of trade as set out in the written costs disclosure to be provided upon acceptance of our offer.
You can also review our grant-of-probate-quotation-example
Please contact Calvin Nelson for a confidential discussion and quotation to obtain probate.