Joint Probate: A Solution When Both Parents Have Passed

We recently had a client who lost her mother after a long illness. As she sorted through her mother’s papers, she discovered that her father’s name was still on the deed to the family home and several bank accounts. Her father had passed away more than ten years before, and our client’s mother had never formally settled his estate. Panic set in as our client remembered something about a three-year limit for probating estates in Idaho. Her first question when she met with us was: Is it too late to handle her parents’ affairs properly?

Fortunately, it was not too late. Idaho law provides a solution for this situation, and it’s called joint probate.

Understanding Joint Probate

Joint probate is a legal process in Idaho that allows for settling a married couple’s estate after both spouses have died, even if the second spouse took no action to retitle property after the first spouse’s death. For our client, this meant she could still properly settle both her parents’ estates, despite the long gap between their deaths.

When Joint Probate Becomes Necessary

Our client’s situation is not uncommon. Several scenarios might lead to the need for joint probate:

• The surviving spouse was too grief-stricken to handle estate matters after their partner's death
• The surviving spouse didn’t realize they needed to retitle property in their name only
• Children or heirs are unsure how to proceed with property still in both parents’ names
  
  

Legal Basis for Joint Probate

Idaho Code 15-3-111 provides the legal foundation for joint probate. For our client, this law meant she could join both her parents’ estates in a single probate proceeding, even though her father died over 10 years ago. The key requirements for joint probate are:

• The marital community was dissolved by the first spouse’s death
• The second spouse was entitled to all of the first spouse’s property by law (either under the first spouse’s Will or pursuant to Idaho laws of intestacy)
• The second spouse died before any probate proceedings were initiated for the first spouse
  
  

Overcoming the Three-Year Rule

Luckily, because our client acted promptly after her mother’s death, her initial worry about the three-year limit for probate wasn’t a problem. In joint probate, the three-year limit only applies to the death of the spouse who died last; in this case, our client’s mother. This meant our client could still use joint probate even though it had been more than a decade since her father passed away.
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Conclusion
 
While our client initially felt overwhelmed by discovering her mother hadn’t settled her father’s estate, joint probate in Idaho provided a solution to her problem. If you or someone you know encounters this challenge, we recommend consulting with an Idaho probate attorney to help navigate the joint probate process.