Except as provided in Section 75-3-1201, to be effective to prove the transfer of any property or to nominate a personal representative, a will must be declared to be valid by an order of informal probate by the registrar, or an adjudication of probate by the court, except that a duly executed and unrevoked will which ...
When the owner of a house dies and there is a Will, the house will pass to the beneficiary named in the document. Once Probate court has validated the Will, the Executor can assist with transferring the property to the heir. This is typically the simplest way to transfer the home after an owner dies.
A codicil to a will is a legal document used to make minor changes to your existing will without having to rewrite the entire document. It's a flexible tool for updating your estate plan when there are minor changes. Codicils must be executed with the same formalities as a will to ensure validity.
If you don't own any land, and your estate is less than $100,000, no probate is required. It is possible to arrange your affairs so there is no estate to probate upon your death. For example, you can give all your property away the day before you die.
Probate is required if: the estate includes real property (land, house, condominium, mineral rights) of any value, and/or. the estate has assets (other than land, and not including cars) whose net worth is more than $100,000.
Property that is held in a revocable trust will avoid probate. However, it is not sufficient to just have a revocable trust. The deceased person's property must be held in it when she dies. Once a person signs a revocable trust, she should immediately transfer her property to the trust.
For example, a survivorship clause might state "A beneficiary must survive me by 30 days to receive any bequest under this will. If a beneficiary does not survive me by 30 days, their share shall pass as if they predeceased me."
You normally need not get very specific, unless an object is particularly valuable. It is enough to list the location of the property: "all household furnishings and possessions in the apartment at 55 Drury Lane."