Probate Office
What is a probate office?
A probate office is the administrative division of the probate court, which is the judicial system dedicated to handling matters relating to the disposition of a decedent’s sole-named assets. Probate and taxes have nothing to do with each other for the most part. A probate court is responsible for probating a decedent’s Last Will and Testament; this process provides an interested person the opportunity to admit the Will into the Court for the purposes of honoring and following the terms of the Last Will and Testament. The probate office and, by extension, the probate court is not established to scrutinize the validity of a Will on its own. In other words, if someone suspects a forgery, undue influence, or lack of capacity, then those estate litigation issues must be brought to the court’s attention through a lawsuit – otherwise the probate division accepts the unchallenged position that the Last Will and Testament is valid.
Tags: last will and testament, probate, probate court, probate rules
