Probate Administration and Settlement

Serving Glastonbury-Hebron and all of Hartford County

Probate is overwhelming.  We make it easier.  Most of us spend our lives thinking about our families and our work. Sometimes, it is very difficult to properly consider and do the estate planning, to plan for what will happen to our assets, our spouses and children following our death. If you have not yet taken the time to do estate planning, with either a Will or a Trust, then following your death, your loved ones will be forced to deal with a very complex, time consuming, and emotionally draining process called Intestacy. Much of this can be avoided with some planning that will clearly define your wishes.

In Connecticut, the affairs of a deceased person are handled by the Probate Court for the district in which the person resided at the time of his or her death. The Court has jurisdiction over all the personal and real property owned by that person at the time of their death. Not having a will can be very dangerous, not to mention expensive.

Dying without a will is called “intestate”, and when it happens, the state has laws which will be used to determine how property will be distributed among your heirs. If you do not leave a will, your personal wishes about how to distribute your property will not be considered.  This often leads to family fights , and in some cases, costly and time consuming litigation.

The Probate Court must make determinations regarding whether a will submitted to probate is valid and admissible,  later it will supervise the accounting for the assets of the person, the appraisal of assets, the payment of the person’s debts and taxes and finally, the distribution of remaining assets to the heirs. The deceased may, through their Will, choose to appoint an executor.  If there is no will, the court will appoint an administrator.

As you can see, if planned for, the Probate process can be short.  If you have either not done any estate planning, or planned incorrectly, it can be expensive, more difficult and take more time. We can help guide you through the Probate process.  We can assist you in opening the probate process, the drafting and filing of required documents with both the Probate Court and Tax Agencies, and working through the system.  Throughout Hartford County, from our office in Glastonbury, we are centrally located to be able to handle probate in much of central Connecticut/