Petition for Probate and Letters

Unless good cause for delay is shown, a person named as executor who fails to petition for administration within 30 days after learning of the death and of being named may be held to have waived the right to…

Notwithstanding the rest of the bond chapter and any waiver of bond, the court in its discretion may require a nonresident personal representative to give bond in an amount the court determines.

Judicial Council rule: a pleading must be in writing and signed by all persons joining in it; all Probate Code pleadings must be verified, by any one of those joining;

To obtain authority under the Independent Administration of Estates Act, the personal representative petitions either in the petition for appointment or in a separate petition in the estate proceeding, requesting full…

Personal representative means an executor, administrator, administrator with the will annexed, special administrator, successor personal representative, public administrator acting under section 7660, or a person…

The order of succession for the part not passing to the spouse: issue, then parents, then issue of parents, then grandparents and their issue, on the section's ladder. Check where the line stops.

The petition must state the date and place of death, the decedent's residence address and county, the name, age, address and relation of each heir and devisee so far as known to or reasonably ascertainable by the…

Once final, an order admitting a will or appointing a personal representative conclusively determines the court's jurisdiction and cannot be collaterally attacked, except where there was extrinsic fraud in procuring the…

Within 120 days after a will is admitted to probate, an interested person (other than a party to a will contest or a person with actual notice of the contest in time to join it) may petition to revoke the probate, with…

Connecticut rule that the Probate Court of the district of domicile grants letters of administration for a Connecticut intestate (with § 45a-287 venue for nondomiciliaries), after a hearing on public or personal notice…

Connecticut venue rule for a testator not domiciled in Connecticut: the will may be proved in any district where the testator last resided, where real or tangible property is located, where accounts or intangible…

Connecticut rule that when a will disposing of only part of the estate is probated, the executor or administrator with the will annexed is, unless the will specifies otherwise, ex officio administrator of the intestate…

Connecticut rule that on application of a creditor or other interested person, if probate or administration will be delayed or the estate needs protection, the court may with or without notice appoint a temporary…

Official Connecticut Probate Courts petition to probate a will and appoint an executor, or for administration, with each proposed fiduciary's signed acceptance.

Official guide published by the Office of the Probate Court Administrator describing Connecticut estate administration step by step: filing PC-200 in the district of domicile with copies to heirs and beneficiaries and…

Connecticut definition of a probate bond as a bond with security securing the fiduciary's faithful performance and accounting, payable to the state in the amount and with the security the judge requires under Supreme…

Connecticut rule that a certificate of a fiduciary's appointment issued by the court clerk is sufficient evidence of the fiduciary's authority and identity for all purposes for one year from issuance, absent actual…

Connecticut: section 45a-251 requires a written will or codicil subscribed by the testator and attested by two witnesses who each subscribe in the testator's presence.

A named executor must apply for probate within THIRTY DAYS of the death, with a penalty for failing to. A short fuse that families routinely miss; put it in the signing instructions.

Official petition form of the Sussex County Register of Wills, a clerk of the Court of Chancery under 12 Del. C. § 2501.

Delaware provisions for a successor administrator when a sole executor or administrator (or all of them) is removed, resigns, dies or becomes incapacitated, stating that the deceased fiduciary's own personal…

How a non-resident executor or administrator acts in Delaware, including by power of attorney. Warn a client naming an out-of-state fiduciary that there are extra steps.

Delaware statement that in performing the functions of the office, the Register of Wills of each county acts only as a Clerk of the Court of Chancery. Read with § 2502 on the Register's powers.

Court of Chancery probate rule that no petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration with will annexed may be filed with the Register of Wills until the will has been proved. Read with 12 Del. C.

Court of Chancery rule that a personal representative need not appear personally at the Register of Wills when letters are granted or when an interim or final accounting is filed, if on written application the…

Official notarized form of the Sussex County Register of Wills by which a person renounces the right and power of administration on a decedent's estate and refuses the office.

Letters testamentary are granted to the executor named in the will. Naming an executor and an alternate keeps the estate out of the administration queue.

Delaware rule that when a named executor is under an incapacity (minority, physical or mental disability), letters testamentary issue to that person only when the incapacity is removed and bond is given;

Ranks who may serve as personal representative and excludes minors, adjudicated incapacitated persons, certain felons, nonresident aliens, judges and court employees, and nonresidents who fail to file the required…

After appointment the Register issues letters stating the Court's name and address, the decedent and personal representative, the appointment date, the date any will was probated, the Register's signature and seal, the…

The petition states the decedent's name, domicile and place and date of death; the petitioner's name, address, age, citizenship, relationship, interest and any disability; jurisdictional facts; other proceedings;

On a request for abbreviated probate, the Court or Register appoints one or more personal representatives, except as § 20-322 provides, and the appointment is an order for unsupervised administration unless it…

Formal probate must be instituted if, before abbreviated probate, an interested person or creditor requests it or the petition for abbreviated probate appears materially incomplete or incorrect, or as provided in §…

In formal probate, due execution is proved by the witnesses' affidavits unless the Court orders otherwise;

A personal representative appointed without court supervision is not subject to continuing supervision except under § 20-107 or other provisions of Title 20, and is not subject to provisions applicable only to…

Defines Title 20 terms. The Court is the Probate Division of the Superior Court; an interested person includes a nominated personal representative until appointment, the personal representative, legatees until paid,…

A writing Title 20 requires to be verified is sufficient if signed with the statutory declaration that its contents are true and correct to the best of the signer's knowledge, information and belief.

Florida court rule requiring a verified petition to admit a will to probate without administration, with the petitioner's and decedent's particulars, known spouse and beneficiaries, venue, any foreign proceedings, a…

The order of preference for appointment, starting with the personal representative named in the will. Naming one and an alternate keeps the estate out of the queue.

Florida court rule requiring a verified petition for administration stating the petitioner's interest, name and address and attorney;

Florida court rule providing that no notice of the petition for administration or issuance of letters is needed when the petitioner is entitled to preference of appointment, but that before letters issue to a person not…

Florida court rule requiring the personal representative or petitioner to file a copy of an official record of death in an estate administration and in ancillary proceedings no later than three months after first…

Florida court rule providing that after the petition is filed and any will admitted, the court appoints the person entitled and qualified to be personal representative and determines any bond (which the clerk may…

Florida court rule requiring the prospective personal representative to file, before letters issue, an oath to faithfully administer the estate, in substantially the prescribed forms.

The spouse's intestate share: the entire estate where there is no surviving descendant, or where all descendants are also the spouse's and the spouse has no other descendant; otherwise one half.

The order of succession after the spouse: descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then the section's remaining classes including the grandparent split. Check where the line stops.

Florida text placing venue for probate of wills and granting letters in the county of the decedent's Florida domicile; if none, in any county where the decedent's property is located;

Official Maryland Register of Wills form RW1103, the Petition for Administration used to open a small estate ($50,000 or less, or $100,000 where the spouse is the sole heir or legatee) with Schedule B, as well as a…

The Register's current petition for administration (rev. 07/01/2024) for a regular estate (over $50,000, or $100,000 where the spouse is sole heir or legatee), with statements of eligibility (age, citizenship or…

Official form by which a named executor or a person with priority asks that another person be appointed instead, consents (the consent may not be withdrawn while the appointee serves except for good cause), and consents…

Official acceptance by which the personal representative accepts the duties of the office and consents to personal jurisdiction in Maryland actions arising from the office, as § 6-101 requires.

Letters in administrative or judicial probate are granted in a fixed order of priority, beginning with the personal representative named in a will admitted to probate, then the surviving spouse and children of an…

Defines terms for the Estates and Trusts Article. An heir is a person entitled under §§ 3-101 through 3-110;

Any part of the net estate not effectively disposed of by will is distributed by the personal representative to the decedent's heirs in the order prescribed in Title 3, Subtitle 1. Read with §§ 3-102 through 3-104.

The petition must state the decedent's name, domicile and place and date of death, the petitioner's interest, the county of domicile (or of the largest Maryland property for a nondomiciliary), other proceedings, and…

After appointment the register issues letters stating the court or register making the appointment, the decedent and personal representative, the appointment date, the date of probate of any will, the register's…

Official consent by interested persons that the named person serve as personal representative without bond except as required by law.

Massachusetts probate procedure for estate recovery: a petition to probate a will or for administration must include a sworn statement that the petition and death certificate were sent to the division by certified mail,…

Official Probate and Family Court procedural guide chapter on formal testacy and appointment proceedings, described as actions to establish a will or determine intestacy conducted before a judge with notice by citation…

Official Probate and Family Court procedural guide chapter on informal probate and appointment.

Massachusetts venue rule: the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceeding lies in the county of the decedent's domicile at death or, for a nondomiciliary, in any county where the decedent had property at…

The order of priority for appointment as personal representative, starting with the person named in the will. Naming a personal representative and an alternate keeps the estate out of this queue.

INFORMAL PROBATE is the streamlined Massachusetts route for uncontested estates, decided by a magistrate without a hearing.

Massachusetts contents of a petition for formal probate or adjudication of intestacy: it requests a judicial order on testacy and determination of heirs, includes the statements required for informal petitions under §…

Massachusetts procedure for a formal proceeding on the priority or qualification of a petitioner for appointment, or of an informally appointed representative: the petition contains the § 3-301(a)(1) statements and…

Massachusetts procedure that any interested person or a personal representative may petition for supervised administration at any time or join the request with a testacy or appointment petition;

What passes by intestacy, including a partial intestacy where the will does not dispose of everything. The reason a residuary clause matters.

Where a nonresident decedent's will has not been admitted to probate in the place of residence and no probate proceeding is pending there, and the decedent died owning real estate in a New Jersey county, or personal…

New Jersey text on who takes the part of an intestate estate that does not pass to the surviving spouse or partner under 3B:5-3, or the whole estate where there is none: descendants by representation, then parents, then…

The surrogate's court of the county in which the decedent resided at death, or the Superior Court, may grant letters of general administration on the decedent's estate.

A personal representative's duties and powers commence on appointment, and the powers relate back so that acts beneficial to the estate done by the appointee before appointment have the same effect as acts done…

Every fiduciary, resident or not, who is granted letters testamentary or of administration in New Jersey must, at the time of the grant or before undertaking the duties, file with the surrogate or clerk of the granting…

An intestate administrator's bond is conditioned substantially on (a) making, appraising and filing an inventory within the time required, if the court requires one or a family exemption under chapter 16 is to be set…

The surrogates of the several counties or the Superior Court may take depositions to wills, admit them to probate, and grant letters testamentary or letters of administration with the will annexed.

To be effective to prove the transfer of any property or to nominate an executor, a will must be admitted to probate.

No will may be admitted to probate until ten days after the testator's death, although the probate papers may be filed, witness depositions taken and the executor qualified in the meantime.

Letters of administration go to eligible distributees who qualify in the order surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, either parent, brothers or sisters, then other distributees with preference to the one entitled…

A petition for letters of administration may be presented by any person interested in the estate, a person to whose appointment all distributees consent, a public administrator or chief fiscal officer, a creditor, or a…

Where no executor is named or none is qualified to act, on application of a person who may petition under § 1402, letters of administration with the will annexed go first to a sole beneficiary (or that beneficiary's…

No bond is required of an executor unless the will, § 806 or this section requires one;

Before granting letters of administration the court may require the petitioner to mail written notice of the application to every distributee who was not required to be served and has not appeared or waived.

A probate petition may be presented by a person named in the will as legatee, devisee, fiduciary or guardian (or by the guardian, committee or conservator of such a legatee or devisee), by a creditor, a person…

Before admitting a will the court must inquire into all the facts and be satisfied of the will's genuineness and the validity of its execution, though it may accept an attesting witness's affidavit as the article…

Once a probate petition is filed and process has issued, a named executor may request preliminary letters testamentary (earlier in the court's discretion), with notice to co-executors of equal right and to executors…

After a will is admitted, any person entitled to letters under it who is eligible, appears and qualifies is entitled to letters testamentary;

What the application for appointment must contain and the bond that accompanies it, including when a will excuses surety. If the client wants no bond, the will should say so expressly.

Official Ohio standard probate form under R.C. 2113.06 and 2113.07 notifying persons entitled to administer the estate that an applicant has asked to be appointed, giving the hearing date, time and court address, and…

Official Ohio standard probate form entry by which the court, after hearing the application, finds whether the decedent died testate or intestate and the domicile, that bond is dispensed with by the will or by law or…

Ohio text requiring the probate court to admit a will if it appears from the face of the will, or from witness testimony when the court in its discretion requires it, that execution complied with the law of the place…

Every Ohio fiduciary must accept the trust in writing before acting, and the section states the general duty. Qualifying is an act the nominated executor performs; the will alone does not do it.

Ohio text requiring an administrator, special administrator, administrator de bonis non or administrator with the will annexed to be an Ohio resident.

Ohio text providing that letters of administration for an Ohio resident who died intestate are granted by the probate court of the county of residence at death, and that when a will is admitted to probate in Ohio,…

Letters testamentary are granted to the executor named in the will. Naming an executor and an alternate keeps the estate out of the administration queue.

The order of preference for administration where there is no qualifying executor. The default a client avoids by naming an executor.

Ohio text requiring the executor or administrator to collect the assets and complete administration within six months after appointment unless an extension of the time to file a final and distributive account is…

Official Supreme Court statewide form RW-02 (the Petition for Grant of Letters linked from the courts' orphans' court forms page;

Official Supreme Court statewide form RW-06 (rev. 01.01.20): a person or corporate fiduciary, stating its capacity or relationship to the decedent, renounces the right to administer the estate and, to the extent 20…

The will of a decedent domiciled in Pennsylvania at death may be probated only before the register of the county of the decedent's last family or principal residence;

A petition for letters testamentary or of administration must state under oath, so far as known, the decedent's name, age, domicile, last family or principal residence and the place and day of death;

Before the register grants letters, the personal representative must swear to well and truly administer the estate according to law, and a corporate personal representative's oath may be taken by any of its officers.

Rule text (Pa. O.C. Rule 10.1): the forms the Supreme Court has approved for statewide practice before the Register, set out in the Appendix, must be used exclusively and accepted for filing by all Registers, and…

Every will is proved by two competent witnesses, whether or not the will was witnessed when signed.

An attested will can be made self-proved by the testator's acknowledgment and the witnesses' affidavits before an officer authorized to administer oaths, at execution or later.

Texas text setting venue for a proceeding to admit a will to probate or to grant letters testamentary or of administration in the county where the decedent resided, if the decedent had a domicile or fixed place of…

Texas text listing what an application for letters of administration must state when no will is alleged: the applicant's name, domicile and relationship to the decedent, the last three digits of identification numbers,…

Texas text providing that a personal representative qualifies by taking and filing the oath, or making, signing and filing the declaration, prescribed by Chapter 305, Subchapter B, filing the required bond with the…

Texas text requiring the named executor or an administrator with the will annexed, before letters issue, to take and subscribe an oath, or make and sign an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, in substantially…

Texas text allowing all distributees of an intestate decedent to agree to independent administration and designate a qualified person, firm or corporation as independent administrator in the application or in consents,…

Intestate descent where there is no surviving spouse: to the children and their descendants, then the parents, then siblings, on the section's own ladder. Use it to show a client what happens without the will.

TEXAS IS A COMMUNITY PROPERTY STATE and intestacy splits accordingly. Of the SEPARATE estate, where there are children the spouse takes ONE THIRD OF THE PERSONAL ESTATE and a LIFE ESTATE IN ONE THIRD OF THE LAND, with…

Of the COMMUNITY estate, the deceased spouse's half passes entirely to the surviving spouse where there are no children, or where all the surviving children are also the spouse's.

Texas text listing what an application to probate a will must state and aver, so far as known or ascertainable with reasonable diligence: each applicant's name and domicile, the last three digits of the applicant's and…

Texas text requiring an applicant for probate to file the will with the application if the will is in the applicant's control.

A court or clerk may let a personal representative qualify on bond without surety when there are no assets or the assets coming into the fiduciary's hands do not exceed $35,000, and then issues single-use 'Qualification…

The court or clerk may issue a certificate of qualification to a personal representative, which has the same effect as probate or letters in due form;

A person dealing in good faith with a personal representative who presents a currently effective certificate of qualification may presume the representative is authorized, and must accept or reject it within seven…

The surplus of the personal estate, after funeral expenses, charges of administration and debts, and subject to the family allowance, exempt property and homestead provisions of Article 2 of Chapter 3, passes to the…

An executor or administrator with the will annexed swears that the writing admitted to record contains the decedent's true last will so far as the fiduciary knows, and that the fiduciary will faithfully perform the…

For an intestate estate, during the first 30 days after death administration may go to a sole distributee or designee, or to any distributee presenting written waivers from all other competent distributees;

An administrator of an intestate estate gives bond and swears that the decedent left no will so far as the administrator knows and that the administrator will faithfully perform the duties of the office.

Any person with an interest in real estate of an intestate decedent, including a qualified personal representative, may execute an affidavit on the official form describing the real estate in the jurisdiction, stating…

Official certificate (Va. Code § 64.2-502) by a creditor or other non-distributee seeking administration that the applicant made a diligent search for a sole distributee's address and gave at least 30 days'…

The default bond equals the full value of the personal estate being administered, plus real estate where the will authorizes a sale or the receipt of rents.