Probate
Probate is the legal process for paying the debts of a decedent and transferring ownership of remaining assets to the decedent's beneficiaries. In a dependent administration, an executor must get court permission for every payment and transfer. In an independent adminstration, an executor has much greater authority to perform the same legal duties without court oversight and the attendant financial costs.
The probate process in Texas is relatively quick and inexpensive compared to the process in many jurisdictions, but executors and administrators are required to get legal representation for most probate proceedings, and there are very important issues in most estates that necessitate at least a review by an attorney.
Beneficiaries are sometimes able to pay any remaining debts and transfer personal property without any official probate, but to establish the legal chain of title to real property, such as a decedent's home, some form of probate action is required.
For some assets, estate planning techniques may allow beneficiaries to bypass traditional probate processes. Life insurance, retirement assets, and assets held in trusts are examples of assets that avoid court-based probate proceedings. |
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