Plachta, Murphy and Associates, P.C.

Probate is the court-supervised legal procedure that determines the validity of your will. It affects some, but not all aspects of your estate. Non-probate assets, like a life insurance policy, are paid directly to the beneficiary.

Upon your death, your will is filed with the probate court and its validity determined. All property, debts, and claims of the estate are inventoried and appraised. All valid claims of the estate are collected, and the remainder is distributed to beneficiaries according to the will.

The absolute shortest time that a Michigan probate will remain open is five months. In that time, notice to creditors must be published and creditors must be given time to make claims against the estate. While five months is the minimum, the average Michigan probate takes between six to twelve months. That is assuming it is properly handled from the beginning by competent Michigan probate lawyers. If there are complications in the process, it can run even longer.

It depends on the complexity of the matter, size of the estate, and time the probate process takes to run its course. On average, a probate will eat up 3-5% of any assets that pass through the probate system. Costs included filing fees, inventory fees, attorney fees, publication fees, document fees, attorney fees, etc.

The personal representative in the Michigan probate must notify known creditors and publish notice to unknown creditors. Once notice is published, creditors have a period of four months to step forward to make a claim against the estate of the deceased.

The answer is yes. We, as Michigan estate planning attorneys, help our clients avoid the probate system on a daily basis. We assist our clients by preparing revocable living trusts, and working with their beneficiary designations to make sure that they avoid probate.

Plachta, Murphy & Associates, P.C. is a West Michigan law firm that focuses on estate planning, trusts & estates, wills, probate, asset protection, conservatorship, guardianship, real estate and transactional law, and litigation related to these areas.

Although the goal of an estate plan prepared by Plachta, Murphy & Associates is to avoid probate, we represent both executors and court-appointed estate administrators when probate is necessary. Our experience and understanding of the process will help guide you through the probate process.

Brian J. Plachta, Attorney, with more than 25 years of experience in Business, Corporate, Estate Planning, Probate, Elder, and Real Estate Law.

Richard J. Cross, Government Benefits Specialist, with more than 30 years of experience as a Social Security claims representative and VA eligibility service officer.