One of the main goals of estate planning for many individuals is the avoidance of probate. People will often consult an estate planning attorney and request this outcome without fully understanding what probate is. This weekly series will attempt to clarify some of the misunderstandings about probate, and shed some light on the recent changes brought about by the adoption of the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code.

Generally speaking, probate is the court-supervised administration of one’s estate. The property that a person owns at the time of his or her death that is required to pass through probate is called the probate estate.

Probate involves the filing of a death certificate, the will (if one exists), a petition to appoint a personal representative, an inventory of the decedent’s probate estate, and the eventual distribution of the probate estate according to the provisions in the will or intestate distribution if no valid will exists. While seemingly straightforward, probating a will can potentially involve long and expensive proceedings if complications arise during the process.

This series will cover the details of the probate process in further detail as the weeks progress. For more information regarding wills, please refer to the Wills Series on this website.