Once all assets have been gathered, inventoried, the 90 day creditor’s period has run, and payment of claims, if any, have been made, the estate can usually start making the distribution of assets. Interested parties are provided a Petition for Discharge, setting forth the personal representative’s fee, attorney’s fees, estimated final costs, and an accounting of all of the estate’s income and expenditures. As all of the assets will be known at this point, the beneficiaries will receive the amount of their inheritance.
If all beneficiaries agree to the Petition for Discharge, the estate can be finalized quickly. Assets can then be distributed to the beneficiaries, costs paid, etc. In the event of problems, the beneficiaries have 30 days in order to make objection to the Petition for Discharge. If an objection is filed by a beneficiary, the probate court may require a hearing on the objection’s validity.
As previously discussed, the full probate process takes about 6-7 months from start to finish under most circumstances.
