You'll usually get the grant of probate or letters of administration within 12 weeks of submitting your application. It can take longer if you need to provide additional information. If you ordered copies of your probate document for use outside the UK, these will take longer to arrive than your UK copy.
Yes, you can have an executor without a will. Even when there is no will, someone has to manage the estate and figure out how property should be distributed. The individual must be appointed by the probate court before they can proceed.
In California, there's no strict deadline for filing probate after death, but it's advisable to begin the process as soon as possible. Delays in filing can lead to complications, such as the estate's assets becoming unmanageable or creditors taking legal action to collect debts.
If the person named in the will cannot act or there is no will, then there's an order of priority for who may be appointed a personal representative. The order of priority is any surviving spouse or domestic partner, then a child, then a grandchild, then a parent, and then a sibling.
That being said, it is never a good idea to delay the inevitable. California Probate Code section 8001 specifies that the executor has 30 days after the decedent's date of death and after learning they are the nominated executor to petition the court for administration of the estate.
You can transfer property without opening probate if the estate is valued under a set amount. That amount changes every few years and is based on the year the person passed away. You can find the latest limits in Maximum Values for Small Estate Set-Aside & Disposition of Estate Without Administration (form DE-300).
In the event of death without a will, the surviving spouse or partner typically inherits 50% of the separate property. The remaining 50% is distributed to the deceased's children, parents, siblings, and other relatives, ing to California's intestate succession law.
Given the magnitude of the responsibilities and the intimacy of the role, you may want to name a close friend or relative as executor, someone who fully understands and respects your wishes, as well as those of your beneficiaries, and who might handle your sentimental heirlooms and other property more sensitively than ...