What is "Probate" for an Iowa Estate?
"Probate" is a term that is often mentioned (well, maybe not often) but many people don't understand what it really involves. Probate is the legal process where, through a court-supervised system, a deceased individual's assets are transferred to their rightful heirs/beneficiaries; taxes are paid; and debts/claims are handled. The probate process also includes the validation of a will.
It is not necessary to have the attorney who drafted the will handle the process. The "administrator" or "executor" can select whatever attorney they choose. The administrator or executor is the individual appointed by the court to handle the various steps in probating an estate.
In Iowa, the probate process primarily consists of 5 stages.
- The filing of the initial set of documents to open the estate.
- Publication of notice in a newspaper for filing of claims and giving notice to heirs and creditors.
- Waiting the time period for the filing of any claims or contests to the will.
- Filing of the report and inventory and payment of taxes.
- Distribution to beneficiaries/heirs and discharge of the executor/administrator.
Every state is different in how the probate process is administered and you should contact a knowledgeable attorney to handle the probate process. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the probate process in Iowa.
I am the Personal Representative of my father's estate, who was a resident of the state of Washington. I am the only heir. I am in the process of closing his estate by doing it myself without an attorney as it is a simple estate. However he does have real estate in Iowa and I need to transfer the title into my name. I did run an ad for 6 weeks in the local newspaper in Chariton Iowa for probate purposes. Is transfering the title something I can do myself?
To transfer that real property in Iowa, assuming it was solely in your father’s name, you will need to go through ancillary probate in Iowa through the courts. It is something that you can do yourself, however I strongly recommend getting legal counsel to assist.
I'm the sole inheritor and executor of my significant other's small estate. My lawyer is charging me not only for phone calls made to him by my deceased partner's children, which I did not authorize, but also for documents prepared and sent to them, namely copies of the newspaper article required to be run two times as well as the iinventory of the estate. Is it required by law that they be so notified? That I should have to pay for their phone calls at $175 an hour seems outrageous. Do I have any legal grounds for protesting either of these charges?
By statute, there is a ceiling for attorney fees (based on the size of the estate) and they have to be approved by the court before they can be paid. If he is charging you now for that work without court approval, he is in violation of the probate rules. At the court hearing on his fees, you can protest and object.
Having said that, charging for phone calls, letters, etc. is not unusual as the only thing we can charge for is our time, and those things do take time. Rather than have him deal with those requests, you as the executor can handle them and you can request that he direct all inquiries to you so that you don't get charged for those communications. That may result in some tension, as I'm inferring there may not be the best relationship with your partner's family.
Also, yes, there is an obligation to notify the "heirs" (children or parents) of the proceedings. I don't send out any other information to heirs other than a notice, unless the executor authorizes me to do so. The will, inventory, etc. are public record and family can use their own dime to get that information...if that is the route the executor wants to take.
My sister is the executor for my parent's estate. There are three sisters total. She has changed the locks on the house and will not give my sister or I access to the property which was our childhood home and will be divided between the three of us. Can she do this?
Thank you
As the executor, it is her legal responsibility to "marshall" (get control) all of the estate assets to make sure they are protected, inventoried and eventually sold or distributed for the beneficiaries/heirs and creditors. She will have to account for the assets under her control. It is not uncommon to do this to prevent someone from taking more than they are entitled to or to prevent fighting over the assets that are removed. Hope this helps.
My aunt died in may of 2008. She had a WILL in place and probate has opened. I am wondering what the process is in Iowa for the probate when there was a legal will in place and what is the usual time frame. The lawyer told my grandfather that they cannot do anything until four months from her death is this true?
The average time-frame for probate is about a year. This is dependent upon the efficiency of the attorney, the cooperation of the family and the cooperation of the executor/administrator. The four month period of the "freeze" is actually four months after the date of the second publication of notice, not death. Basically, during this 4 month period the freeze protects the executor from personal liability should they disburse assets, then you have a creditor come out of the woodwork and not have sufficient assets to pay a claim or the assets are paid to the wrong beneficiary.
Hope this helps.
My father-in-law died and left a small to no estate. Six months prior to his death his wife died and left a $10K life insurance benefit which had not been paid when he died. We want this money paid directly to the funeral home. The insurance company would like a Small Estate Affidavit to release the the funds to the funeral home. We would like to file this form ourselves, however, my father-in-lwa left a house which we gave back to the bank becasue the mortage was more than the value of the home. Can we file the Small Estate Affidavit to get the funeral home paid or does the $10K need to go to the mortgage company?
My father died and left an old mobile home jointly owned with my sister, she sold it for $2000. to repay herself for the funeral and a few hundred dollars in his bank account which I am jointly listed on. I am going to pay his final utility bills and all that is left are 2 credit cards which total around $4000.00. He only had old furniture and dishes which we had to disposed of (none of it was useable). We can not pay an attorney to open an estate and do not want to be held responsible for his credit cards. The phone company wants an affidavit from the estate admin. (which there is not one)to release the capitol credits to one of us. How do I get this affidavit? Can I write one myself?) And what happens if we do nothing about his estate?