The answer to this question is it depends. It depends on how assets were held during the marriage by the spouses and it also depends on what types of assets the deceased spouse had in his or her name.

Now there are a number of ways to deal with assets that were owned by a deceased spouse. One way is that if the value of those assets is lower than the threshold for a small estate, then the surviving spouse may use a small estate affidavit to transfer property.

The surviving spouse also might be able to use what’s called a spousal set aside, which is similar to a quickie or a short form of probate.

The third way that a surviving spouse can avoid probate is to have already established a revocable trust and have the trust owning the assets of the married couple.

Quick Question Corner is a video segment where we answer common questions about estate planning and elder law. If you have similar questions, leave them in the comment section and we can feature them in one of our videos in the future.

Now, the process is that the person named the executor or another interested party will file a petition to probate the will. Once that petition is filed, there are certain intermediate court hearings and deadlines that have to be followed. Once those hearings and deadlines occur, the executor will file a request to distribute the assets and to close the estate. On average, it takes anywhere between 18 and 24 months for a probate case to go through the court process.

Quick Question Corner is a video segment where we answer common questions about estate planning and elder law. If you have similar questions, leave them in the comment section and we can feature them in one of our videos in the future.

The other way that a trustee can withdraw money or use money from an irrevocable trust is to pay bills related to the trust administration. So if the trustee hires an accountant or an attorney or a financial advisor, for example, the trustee can use trust assets from an irrevocable trust to pay for those professionals.

Quick Question Corner is a video segment where we answer common questions about estate planning and elder law. If you have similar questions, leave them in the comment section and we can feature them in one of our videos in the future.

Now, a Revocable Living Trust is a contract that you write with yourself about how your property will be managed both during your lifetime, if you become incapacitated and when you pass away. Now, there are a lot of advantages of a Revocable Trust such as avoiding probate, the cost, the public nature of it and so on. There are some disadvantages as well.

The first disadvantage is that it’s a complex lease legal documentand so this is a tool that you use to avoid probate and there is a lot that goes into it.

The second thing about a trust and the second disadvantage is that you have to do certain thingsto your property after you create the trust. So you have to transfer your real estate to the trust, for example, and you have to transfer your financial and investment accounts to the trust.

The third disadvantage of a Revocable Trust is that typically you need to hire a lawyer to both prepare it and then to update it in the future.

Quick Question Corner is a video segment where we answer common questions about estate planning and elder law. If you have similar questions, leave them in the comment section and we can feature them in one of our videos in the future.