Video Summary

What is formal administration? Formal administration has to do with the probate proceeding wherein a personal representative is appointed to administer the estate of the decedent. That is the formal administration, which takes about four to six months for a simple probate administration, and that the personal representative must file a notice to creditors that runs for three months, and after which then they can start winding up the probate administration, but it has to stay open a minimum of three months to determine if there are any outstanding creditors.

There’s another proceeding, which is called a summary administration whenever there’s no creditors or two years has passed since the decedent has passed away. And then you can file a summary administration, which means all of the assets would be distributed to the beneficiaries and since there are no creditors or the creditors’ claims have been barred after two years. If you have any questions about probate proceedings, well give me call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

The will says that I’m the personal representative. Do I need to probate the will? Well, whether or not you have to probate the will is if the decedent with assets in his name alone, and that would be the determining factor as to whether or not the will must be admitted to probate, and you’d be appointed by the court to serve as the personal representative. And so, it’s not whether or not you’re designated as the personal representative as to whether or not the will needs to be probated. It’s whether or not the decedent died with assets in his name alone.

If he died with assets in his name alone, well then you do need to contact an attorney to see about opening a probate administration, and you’re designated as the personal representative, and have the court appoint you, an issue which called Letters of Administration, so that you can collect the assets, pay the creditors, and distribute the assets to the beneficiaries.

If you have any questions about probate or wills, well give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Are inherited items subject to capital gains? Whenever you inherit property, such as real estate, stocks, or bonds, you as the beneficiary receive the item at the market value as of the date of death, so that if the property that you inherited was worth $100,000 on the date of death, and then you sold it for $100,000, you would not have any capital gains. If, however, you inherited it and the date of death value was $100,000 and you waited several years and it appreciated and you sold it for $150,000, then you would pay capital gains between the difference of the date of death value and the sales proceeds, and those would be long-term capital gains.

So, if you have any questions about probate and what value you have to show on your tax return, give me a call at (727)847-2288.

Video Summary

What recourse do I have if a family of a deceased person sold off items that were supposed to go to me?

Well, I assume that the decedent left a will and also left specific devise or a personal property list designating you to receive the items of personal property, and therefore you know that you were supposed to receive those. It’s very difficult to try and get those items, or to have a remedy unless there’s a probate proceeding involved. So if there’s no probate proceeding involved, you would have to probably establish a probate proceeding and then sue whoever it is who dissipated these items of personal property.

So it’s very, very problematic, and usually the amount of the value of the personal property, although it may have a lot of sentimental value, usually does not justify the cost involved in attorney fees, opening an estate and pursuing the matter. So if you have any questions, give me a call at 727-847-2288.

Video Summary

Can a vehicle title be transferred directly from the decedent’s name to a buyer? The answer to that is, is that if there is a probate proceeding, well, then the personal representative can sign the title and transfer it to the buyer, but you have to have an estate administration opened in order to have the title transferred from the decedent’s name into a buyer’s name.

If there’s no probate involved, a motor vehicle title can be transferred to his children or to his dependents, and then once it’s in their name, they can turn around and sell it, and you don’t have to go through probate to transfer the titles to a dependent or child. So that’s one way that you don’t have to go through probate, but you cannot take it directly to a buyer. It has to go into the children’s name first if you don’t have a probate proceeding.

If you have any questions about probate or transferring titles, my phone number is 727-847-2288.