Add Field Settings Legal Massachusetts Heirship Affidavits Forms For Free

How do I get a Small Estate Affidavit? Check Eligibility: Verify if the estate qualifies for a Small Estate Affidavit. Obtain the Form: Contact the probate court in the county where the deceased person lived. Complete the Affidavit: Fill out the Small Estate Affidavit form with accurate and complete information.

An Affidavit of Heirship is a legal document used to establish the heirs of a deceased person and their respective interests in the deceased person's estate when the deceased person dies without a will (intestate) or when there are uncertainties about the heirs and their inheritance rights.

Kerri Mast: There is a range regarding how long it takes to settle an estate and several factors at play, including the asset value and complexity. Simple estates might be settled within six months. Complex estates, those with a lot of assets or assets that are complex or hard to value can take several years to settle.

Voluntary Probate (also called a "Voluntary Administration") is the easiest way to handle small estates that need to be probated. It is available when the deceased owned assets that total less than $25,000 solely in their name, excluding one car.

In Massachusetts, estates worth less than $25,000 may not be subject to full probate. In fact, there are two official processes by which small estates can go through an expedited form of probate: Voluntary administration and summary administration.

A revocable living trust can be used to avoid probate. A trust holds legal title to property for the benefit of another person (“beneficiary”). The person who creates the trust (“the grantor”) chooses a manager (sometimes themselves), known as the trustee, to manage the assets in order to protect them.

The decedent must have left an estate that consists entirely of personal property valued at $25,000 or less (excluding the value of a car). 30 days or more have passed since the decedent's death. The petitioner must be an interested person, but doesn't need to be a resident of Massachusetts.

Massachusetts probate law requires any asset that is owned by the decedent at the time of their death to go through the probate process to change ownership. However, assets that are jointly owned with rights of survivorship, titled in a trust, or have a beneficiary designation will not need to go through probate.

Whether an estate has to be probated depends on how the decedent's (the person who has died) property is titled (owned) when they die. Some property may not be part of the probate estate because it passes directly to another person by law.