Estate & Probate Administration

What is required to administer the estate of a loved one in Montana? Estate administration is the process of identifying, gathering, and protecting assets of the decedent followed by properly paying the decedents debts and taxes, and distributing remaining assets to the descendants’ beneficiaries.  Whether your loved one passed away with an estate plan, such as a last will and testament or trust, pay-on-death designations on certain accounts, or had nothing setup at all can greatly affect how to properly administer the estate. Not all estate administration requires a probate.  Probate is the court-supervised process of estate administration.  Navigating the many details of estate administration and/or probate for a deceased loved one, including: determining who is responsible for the administration, how to handle creditors, recognizing how assets are titled and held, learning what documents are involved and proper execution of such, what to do with assets, what laws come into play, what actions are in the best interests of beneficiaries, and whether a type of probate administration is required, if any, can be tricky questions during a time which is already hard enough.