Probate Administration

When a person dies, his or her Will is filed at the Probate Court of the county in which the deceased person resided. Almost all probate documents are available to the public, including on the internet. The Hamilton Probate Court's website is www.probatect.org. In addition, all assets owned by that person in his or her own name (not joint or beneficiary-named assets) must be collected, valued, and reported to the Probate Court on an Inventory.

All of the decedent's next-of-kin must be listed, as well as the beneficiaries, who will not necessarily be the same people! All income and payments for debts and expenses will be listed on an Account. All beneficiary distributions will also be listed on the Account. Each paper filed with the court (Will, Inventory, Account, etc.) must be sent to all the relevant parties and set for a hearing, unless these steps are waived by the parties.

In other words, the entire process of disposing of the deceased person's solely-owned assets is not only a paper-laden and time-consuming process, but it is also a public process. For this reason, more and more people are choosing to avoid the probate process by using a living trust to hold their assets.
[view trust administration information]

Nevertheless, there are times when an individual dies with probate assets, perhaps as only part of their assets. In those cases, we prepare the papers required by the court, send the required notices, value assets, appear at hearings on behalf of the family, and do everything else required by the court. Our legal assistant does much of the routine paperwork, under Ruth's supervision, in order to keep the cost reasonable.