Probate 101

Hello everyone, I had the pleasure of attending a CE class on probate. Not too much info here the class was only 1 hour long. But nevertheless, some good basic knowledge everyone needs to know about probate.

The class was taught by a local attorney that specializes in probate. There wasn't much content went over that I hadn't already learned from my online classes. But, I will be happy to provide some good points that where in her presentation. Though, I was able to contact her off her card she gave us to ask a few more questions I personally had.

Good stuff for us to know about probate…

If you ever find someone that wants to sell their recently deceased family member’s house, in order to do so they will need the legal rights. The only way to receive legal rights is to file a probate case. Unless there was a living trust, the property was a part of a living trust, and the seller was listed as a beneficiary of that part of the trust. Otherwise, the specific legal documents the seller needs are called “letters” these are granted by the probate court. The good news is: I found out that this attorney charges her clients a flat fee of 1,500-2,000 dollars to file a case ( and this is fairly consistent for all attorneys). She said once she electronically (yes that’s how they do it now) sends the petition to the judge she typically gets letters back the same day (for salt lake county, other counties and states may sometimes take a little bit longer). So that’s it! I’ll include Jennifer’s contact info at the end of the email for you guys.

*For those of you that don’t know, a probate without a will is considered by statute, “intestate” and one with a will is “testate.” So if a probate is intestate the letters that are granted are called “letters of administration” vs testate are “letters testamentary”…just so you know.

Thanks for reading, and again, discussions/comments are always welcomed and encourage!