Probate of Wills and Estate Settlement Practice

Our probate of Wills and estate settlement practice addresses the legal needs of a family at their emotional time of loss. Our estate settlement services can administer the estate and assets of a deceased loved one without delay or needless expense. The general estate of a decedent is composed of all assets and property owned by that person wherever located. However, the process of moving those assets to other persons or entities is often complex.

By selecting The Law Offices of Keith McManus, LLC as your estate settlement advisor, your family can be assured of the peace of mind provided by our legal and financial expertise and our ability to work closely with the other professionals engaged in the administration of your estate.

As an unbiased, professional law firm, we can help family members to make decisions that might be extremely difficult, and provide specialized knowledge and expertise in settling estates in a manner that will minimize costs and hasten the estate settlement process.

Administering estates is a full-time business and we are on the job so your loved ones need not assume this burden. This is a partial list of some of the duties one might expect:

• File the Will with the Probate Court, to establish its validity.
• Obtain court appointment to act as executor.
• Give notice to the Massachusetts Division of Medical Assistance and to creditors of the estate.
• Take custody of assets and estate valuables.
• Defend the will against in the event of a contest or attack by a disinherited person.
• Transfer funds, bank accounts, investments and securities to an estate account.
• Collect contents of safe deposit boxes owned by the decedent.
• Collect property and money owed to the decedent.
• Prepare a full inventory of estate assets and account for same upon distribution.
• Pay the decedent's creditors if the claim is still valid and enforceable.
• File final income tax return for decedent.
• Review gift tax returns filed by the decedent.
• File final federal estate tax return.
• File state inheritance or estate tax returns.
• Determine whether an estate tax is due to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue or the Internal Revenue Service.
• Distribute assets to beneficiaries, and perhaps to trusts for family benefit or charitable purposes, in accordance with the terms of the will.

General Estate Settlement Information

Probate is the court's supervision of the process that transfers the legal title of property from the estate of the decedent to his or her beneficiaries. Probate is not necessary if the decedent did not have any property to transfer. But, the survivors may decide to open a probate if there are debts to be paid, or if there is a need to set a deadline for creditors to file claims. When property needs to be transferred, the probate process provides for the distribution of the estate's property to the decedent's heirs. 

Property does not necessarily go through the probate process when someone dies. The term "probate estate " refers to any property subject to the authority of the probate court. Assets distributed outside the probate process are part of a person's “non-probate estate.” It can be an easy process to transfer property held in Joint Tenancy and to pay life insurance and retirement benefits to a surviving spouse.

Life insurance and retirement benefits may not need to go through probate. The benefits can be paid directly to the named beneficiaries. Money from IRAs, Keoghs, and 401(k) accounts transfer automatically to the decedent's named beneficiaries. Bank accounts that are “pay-on-death” accounts (PODs), "in trust for" accounts or a "Totten Trust" (Payable on Death) with a named beneficiary also may pass to the beneficiary without probate and many other assets owned by certain legal entities do not need to go through Probate. When a living trust holds title to the decedent's property, that property passes to the beneficiaries without probate.