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Quick guide to Probate...
May. 11th, 2016 02:43 pmfor those of you, who, like me, have NO idea of what, exactly, being named an Executor entails. It's interesting!
First, someone has to die and name you executor in their will. You need to cobble together some money (in our example, $1800-ish), and contact a Probate Attorney. Bonus points if he's "local" to you. Find the will, and make an appointment.
Go to the appointment. Discuss the basics of the "estate" with same; be sure to verify you will get back any funds spent by you on estate business (in Texas, yes - you will get back the funds. Otherwise, you'll come out *less* than the other heirs, and that's not fair.) Agree to the attorney's fees, and write a retainer check.
Go home, freak out slightly on the amount of money you will be out until you can liquidate assets.
Wait approx. 2 weeks. Get a letter from the attorney spelling out the date and time you are to go to Court to be officially appointed as Executor. Notice that he wants you to meet with him 15 minutes before the court time, so you can go over your "testimony". Mark date on calendar so that you are SURE you won't forget.
Court day! Make sure you are dressed appropriate to the dignity of the court - NOT in cut-off shorts and flip-flops, or the dirty wife-beater, stained and torn jeans, and tatts that the folks after us showed up in. :shakes head: Because you are paranoid about being late to official things, make sure you leave the house with PLENTY of time to spare. (In our case? Um.....4 hours. For a 1 hour drive. In my defense, SG offered to take me to lunch at a sit-down place that notoriously runs slow. We ended up at Chick-fil-a......and the yarn store. :lol: More on THAT later...suffice to say I *needed* a new project, right then.)
Wait for your attorney, who is LATE. Later than my brother, in fact, who is almost always late. (In our family, I got all the "Must get there on Time" genes, and my brother got all the "don't worry, it's fine, I'll get there when I get there" genes.) Then, remind your attorney of who, exactly, you are (he tried to give me someone else's paperwork. TWICE.)
Go over the "testimony" - basically, you answer yes or no to various easy questions. If you're not totally brain-dead, you've got this. :lol: Oh - be sure you're not a felon, or been declared legally incompetent. :snicker:
Take a deep breath, and go into the Court. The Judge will swear you in, get your attorney to hand him the papers, and then he'll tell your attorney to question you. Pay attention - he might try to trick you by asking "And you swear you are not a felon" and "Have you ever been declared mentally incompetent"...which if you are not listening you might mis-interpret. (No, I didn't. I did sign one page on the wrong line, though....)
The Judge will declare you Executor. You and your attorney will then go to the clerk's office to get the paperwork (he didn't tell me that.....:sigh:) and then you are done and can sell all the things.
Re: Yarn. I had started a new sock last Friday. By Friday evening, I was OVER it. The yarn - which was NOT cheap ($28/skein!) - is riddled with weak spots that break if you look at it funny. Or try to pull a bit out to knit with. I tried to keep going - by Tuesday AM I was at 4", but had 8 grafts. I told the yarn store owner about it - she was horrified and wanted to try and help me; I told her no, the yarn was a couple of years old, it was a highly-spun yarn and it looked like in some spots it was just too highly-spun. Seems that the company is now out of business, so......Anyway. I bought 3 new skeins and a set of needles. She wound 1 into a ball for me, and I sat down and CO a new sock. (SG was at Lowe's, which is in the same shopping center.) I happily knit while I waited for him - AND I had a sock to work while waiting for the attorney. And 2 more skeins to play with, later. :lol: I don't get to the yarn store often, so it was a nice treat. (Photos later......)
Tomorrow at 11 we go to the Title Company. This is almost done.......:whew!:
First, someone has to die and name you executor in their will. You need to cobble together some money (in our example, $1800-ish), and contact a Probate Attorney. Bonus points if he's "local" to you. Find the will, and make an appointment.
Go to the appointment. Discuss the basics of the "estate" with same; be sure to verify you will get back any funds spent by you on estate business (in Texas, yes - you will get back the funds. Otherwise, you'll come out *less* than the other heirs, and that's not fair.) Agree to the attorney's fees, and write a retainer check.
Go home, freak out slightly on the amount of money you will be out until you can liquidate assets.
Wait approx. 2 weeks. Get a letter from the attorney spelling out the date and time you are to go to Court to be officially appointed as Executor. Notice that he wants you to meet with him 15 minutes before the court time, so you can go over your "testimony". Mark date on calendar so that you are SURE you won't forget.
Court day! Make sure you are dressed appropriate to the dignity of the court - NOT in cut-off shorts and flip-flops, or the dirty wife-beater, stained and torn jeans, and tatts that the folks after us showed up in. :shakes head: Because you are paranoid about being late to official things, make sure you leave the house with PLENTY of time to spare. (In our case? Um.....4 hours. For a 1 hour drive. In my defense, SG offered to take me to lunch at a sit-down place that notoriously runs slow. We ended up at Chick-fil-a......and the yarn store. :lol: More on THAT later...suffice to say I *needed* a new project, right then.)
Wait for your attorney, who is LATE. Later than my brother, in fact, who is almost always late. (In our family, I got all the "Must get there on Time" genes, and my brother got all the "don't worry, it's fine, I'll get there when I get there" genes.) Then, remind your attorney of who, exactly, you are (he tried to give me someone else's paperwork. TWICE.)
Go over the "testimony" - basically, you answer yes or no to various easy questions. If you're not totally brain-dead, you've got this. :lol: Oh - be sure you're not a felon, or been declared legally incompetent. :snicker:
Take a deep breath, and go into the Court. The Judge will swear you in, get your attorney to hand him the papers, and then he'll tell your attorney to question you. Pay attention - he might try to trick you by asking "And you swear you are not a felon" and "Have you ever been declared mentally incompetent"...which if you are not listening you might mis-interpret. (No, I didn't. I did sign one page on the wrong line, though....)
The Judge will declare you Executor. You and your attorney will then go to the clerk's office to get the paperwork (he didn't tell me that.....:sigh:) and then you are done and can sell all the things.
Re: Yarn. I had started a new sock last Friday. By Friday evening, I was OVER it. The yarn - which was NOT cheap ($28/skein!) - is riddled with weak spots that break if you look at it funny. Or try to pull a bit out to knit with. I tried to keep going - by Tuesday AM I was at 4", but had 8 grafts. I told the yarn store owner about it - she was horrified and wanted to try and help me; I told her no, the yarn was a couple of years old, it was a highly-spun yarn and it looked like in some spots it was just too highly-spun. Seems that the company is now out of business, so......Anyway. I bought 3 new skeins and a set of needles. She wound 1 into a ball for me, and I sat down and CO a new sock. (SG was at Lowe's, which is in the same shopping center.) I happily knit while I waited for him - AND I had a sock to work while waiting for the attorney. And 2 more skeins to play with, later. :lol: I don't get to the yarn store often, so it was a nice treat. (Photos later......)
Tomorrow at 11 we go to the Title Company. This is almost done.......:whew!:
