Probate is the process that transfers legal
title of property from the estate of the person
who has died (the "decedent") to his or her
proper beneficiaries.
The term "probate" refers to a "proving" of the
existence of a valid Will, or determining and
"proving" who one's legal heirs are if there is
no Will. Since the deceased can't take it with
him, probate is the process used to determine
who gets his or her property.
Even
if a person dies with a Will (which is known as
dying in "testate"), a court generally has to have
an opportunity to allow others to object to the
Will, and if there are any objections, to
determine if the Will is valid, because it is
always possible that
1)
there was a later Will (which, if valid,
would replace the older Will), or
(2) the Will was made at a time the deceased
was not mentally competent to make a Will,
or
(3) the Will was the result of fraud,
mistake or "undue influence" or
(4) the Will was not properly "executed", or
(5) the so-called Will is actually a
forgery, or
(6) for some other reason (such as a
pre-existing contract) the Will is not fully
valid, or
(7) there are other claims against the
deceased's estate that impact what the
beneficiaries under the Will would receive.
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