Can you fast track probate?

Can you fast track a probate administration? Maybe. Every estate administration is different. If there is a surviving spouse there may be more options than if there is not a surviving spouse. To try to move an estate administration as quickly as possible, you’ll need to have account statements for the month that includes the decedent’s date of death. If you have only limited information about the where the decedent held financial accounts, there is a procedure that can assist you in obtaining this information before or after an estate administration has begun. However, the more information that the executor or administrator has at the outset, the faster things will be able to move. Because every estate is different, there may be some fact specific considerations that can affect an estate administration timeline.

If there is a will, that will can be contested after the will is admitted to probate. If this timeline has not expired, the court will not close the matter on its docket.

If the estate is being administered as a full administration, the executor or administrator will have to file an inventory of the estate no later than three months after being appointed. The Probate Court has one month to hold a hearing on the inventory. This is really the only deadline that the Probate Court has to respond to something that has been filed. Nevertheless, it’s best to plan that the court will take this entire month to hold this hearing and approve or reject the estate inventory.

There may be a portion of the estate administration timeline that can go beyond everyone’s control. If a creditor presents a claim against the estate for unpaid funds, and the executor or administrator rejects that claim, the creditor has two months from the date the claim was rejected to file a separate lawsuit to collect on that. While that creditor has two months to file the separate lawsuit, the probate court might not close the estate because the executor would need to represent the estate in a potential lawsuit.

There may or may not be a method to fast track probate. The best method might be to plan to avoid probate altogether.