Alabama Order on Final Settlement

In Alabama, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you ownreal estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on. You need to create a trust document (it's similar to a will), naming someone to take over as trustee after your death (called a successor trustee).

By law, the probate of an estate in Alabama will take at least six months. This period gives creditors and others with a claim on the estate time to receive notice that the estate is being probated and to submit a claim.

Generally, an executor has 12 months from the date of death to distribute the estate. This is known as 'the executor's year'. However, for various reasons the executor may have been delayed and has not distributed the estate within this time frame.

The time it takes to administer an estate in Alabama will vary depending on the complexity of the estate and the diligence of the personal representative. But since the estate must remain open for six months to allow creditors to submit claims, it is not possible to close the estate in less than six months.

The will is filed with the probate court in the county where the deceased resided. The court appoints an executor and provides letters testamentary to enable the executor to conduct business on behalf of the estate.

In Alabama, the estate executor is known as a "personal representative". Executors for Alabama estates are entitled to reasonable compensation of up to 2.5% of assets received, and 2.5% of disbursements.

Alabama has a simplified probate process for small estates.The court may authorize the inheritor to distribute the assets without having to jump through the hoops of regular probate. You can use the simplified small estate process in Alabama if the estate has no real estate and a value of no more than $25,000.