- The speed at which the forms are filed.
- The decedent did not leave a valid Will.
- The complexity of assets in the estate. (Complex assets like businesses, royalties, patents, etc. will definitely take longer to unwind or transfer.)
It’s not always easy to tell how long probate will take, since there’s a lot that can potentially slow down the process. But when you educate yourself about it in advance, you can take steps to smooth out the process preemptively. Keep reading for helpful insight on why the probate process can take so long:
- What can slow down the probate process?
- Should you hire a probate attorney?
- How to speed up the probate process
[Need to sell a house in probate? We offer a fair price on all houses in probate across the Denver Metro, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs markets. Learn more.]
What can cause set backs during the probate process?
Not many things besides maybe a parking ticket are resolved when it comes to legal issues. The probate process generally includes these things: petitioning the court, approving the personal representative to handle this, notifying all debtors, transferring of assets and filing a notice to creditors, and closing out the estate.
However, here is what usually holds up the process in probate that can cause major set backs:
- Not getting the paperwork filed right away
- Having multiple entities to manage like LLCs
- Having many debtors to notify
- Tax issues
- One of the largest is family disputes
- There’s real estate owned out of state
When a probate attorney gets involved, it can mean more delays because attorneys are paid for their time which means more waiting and work involved because you involved another party.
Is it necessary to hire an attorney?
Many personal representatives do hire an attorney but this is not always necessary and can make the process slower and more expensive.
First you’ll have to schedule a meeting with the attorney which will be in 2-3 weeks at the earliest. Attorneys charge a consultation fee, generally the cost of an hour of their time at their hourly rate, while others will not charge you for this initial appointment alone. After the appointment, you’ll be assign work to do to get the attorney information they need to prepare the initial set of probate filings that you could do on your own anyway.
Finally, the initial set of documents will be handled but two or more months may have already passed and nothing has yet happened in probate court. You could have already been halfway done or almost done with the entire probate process with the help of the court and free resources that take time anyway.
How to make the probate process happen faster.
You can’t always control the passing of a loved one that’s assets went to probate but you can control how quickly all the paperwork gets completed in this process.
Probate can be daunting if you go at it alone, that’s for sure. Most will hire an attorney for the fear of the unknown but it does come with hefty legal fees. There are probate services out there in multiple forms that can help with this and could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees. Dealing with end-of-life matters is a stressful and emotional time and usually the biggest asset is a piece of real estate.
If you have a house in probate and would like to sell without a real estate agent, you can absolutely sell at any point during the probate process. We offer a fair price on all houses in probate across the Denver Metro, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs markets. Learn more.]
www.adambuysdenverco.com is a house buying company and as real estate investors we can only help in probate with making an offer to purchase any real estate involved. We are not a law firm, we are not attorneys and we do not provide legal advice.