Dealing with the death of a loved one can be quite difficult. During the grieving period, the last thing on everyone’s mind is usually settling the deceased’s estate. However, this is inevitable. At some point, you will have to talk about the deceased’s estate and whether it should go to probate or not.
Probate is the legal process by which the court oversees the settlement of the decedent’s estate. For most people, probate can be a long and costly process. But it does not necessarily have to be this way. There are certain steps you can take to make this process less contentious, cost-effective and faster.
Here are simple tips that can help you speed up the probate process in Minnesota.
Come up with a plan
If you are dealing with a small estate, then you can utilize a simplified probate process to reach a settlement without much hassle. However, if you are dealing with a complex estate, such as one that includes real estate and investments, then you need to start by filing an application with the court to be the estate’s executor. Once the court has approved your petition to execute the estate, you should come up with a plan for the probate process. A plan is a crucial component of the probate process because it gives potential beneficiaries an idea of what they should expect as their inheritance.
Provide proper notice and keep clear records
It is important that you provide all the interested parties with relevant notice of the probate action. These include the estate beneficiaries and creditors. Failure to furnish the relevant parties with adequate notice can significantly delay the probate process.
Alongside proper notification, it is also important that you ensure absolute financial transparency to avoid potential disputes that can delay the process.
Probate can take a substantial amount of time. And the longer it takes, the more costly it will be. Fortunately, there are a couple of steps you can take to speed up this process.
