When Your Next Decision Matters
Probate
When Your Loved one Dies, We can be There for You
When a family member dies, grief and confusion are a natural result. There are funeral arrangements to be made, ordering death certificates from the funeral home, and looking for a will.
After the memorial services are complete there are many other steps to take such as getting a list of your loved one’s heirs, and their names, addresses and Social Security numbers.
Your family will need to notify the Social Security Administration and find out whether survivor benefits are available.
How do We Know What the Next Steps are?
At Serafini, Michalowski, Derkacz & Associates, P.C., our compassionate lawyers can provide guidelines for all of the steps after the death of a loved one. Our legal services can ease your family’s uncertainty. We are experienced in helping your loved one’s personal representative with:
- Beginning the probate proceeding to appoint a personal representative
- Gathering of assets – finding out what they are, where they are, providing a proper value of each
- Payments of debts – taxes, last illness and funeral costs, household bills, debts to creditors and liens
- Distribution of assets – the balance of what is left to the beneficiaries named in the will, or according to Michigan’s intestate succession laws if there is no will
Does my Loved One’s Estate Have to go Through Probate Court?
Probate laws in Michigan provide for distribution of your loved one’s estate whether or not your loved one had a will or a trust. If your loved one died with a will, the term is ‘testate,’ or without a will, the term is ‘intestate.’
Generally, probate is necessary when a person dies leaving property only in their name. Not all property your loved one has an interest in is subject to probate.
Our attorneys have experience with Michigan probate and can take the confusion out of probate proceedings whether your loved one had a small estate or regular estate.
We can outline whether an unsupervised administration or supervised administration of their estate is appropriate.
Call our Sterling Heights office toll free at (866) 529-3537 for a free phone consultation, or email us.