Get DC Administration of the Small Estate (SEB) 2015-2024

(a) An abbreviated probate proceeding is a proceeding for the probate of a will or a determination of a decedent's intestacy and for the appointment of a personal representative.

Probate assets are any assets that are owned solely by the decedent. This can include the following: Real property that is titled solely in the decedent's name or held as a tenant in common. Personal property, such as jewelry, furniture, and automobiles.

Contact the court to obtain the name and title of the required probate inventory form. ... Read the form instructions step-by-step. ... List all of the real property assets. ... List all personal property assets. ... List all bank accounts. ... List any retirement accounts, 401K or IRAs.

An estate consists of all of the property a person owns or controls. The estate property may be in his or her sole name, held in a partnership, in a joint ownership arrangement, or through a trust.

Q. What assets are included in the inventory? A. Everything the decedent owned, or had an interest in, including: real estate deeds, insurance, condominium bylaws, and property taxes. checking and savings accounts and any checkbook.

Most states allow summary probate as long as the estate doesn't exceed a certain limit. ... As opposed to the regular probate process, summary probate typically won't require a court hearing. Instead, beneficiaries can use simple methods to distribute the assets, as described below.

Why Probate is Not Required on a Small Estate. Probate is a process that you may need to go through in order to obtain the legal authority to deal with someone's property, money and assets after they have died (known as their Estate).

Fortunately, not all property needs to go through this legal process before it passes to your heirs. So, you ask, when is probate not necessary? The quick rule of thumb is probate is not required when the estate is small , or the property is designed to pass outside of probate. It doesn't matter if you leave a will.

Small Estate. Small estate administration is a simplified court procedure that is an alternative to the longer probate process. It is available when the person who dies did not own that much in assets.

Not every estate, however, needs to go through the probate process. Probate is required only when there is no other mechanism by which to transfer the asset to the heirs or devisees of the estate. ... Assets owned jointly with rights of survivorship are designed to avoid the probate court process.

The most straightforward way to avoid probate is simply to create a living trust. A living trust is merely an alternative to a Last Will. ... It allows you to avoid probate entirely because the property and assets are already distributed to the trust. A trust also enables you to avoid the cost of probating a will.

There is no requirement that a will or property go through probate, but if the decedent owned property that is not arranged specifically to avoid probate (see below), there is no way for the beneficiaries to obtain legal ownership without it. There are some exceptions to this.

Some assets including insurance policies, IRAs, retirement plans and some bank accounts let you name a beneficiary. When you die, these assets will be paid directly to the person(s) you have named as beneficiary without probate. ... The funds will go through probate and be distributed with your other assets.

If you own life insurance or assets held in a retirement account such as an IRA, 401(k), or annuity, then you are already taking advantage of probate avoidance through the use of beneficiary designations.

Probate Assets There will also be items of personal property that do not have title documents, such as furniture and appliances, clothing, household goods, and other personal items. All of these are subject to probate and must be included on the inventory filed with the probate court.