Our Services
Probate & Trust Administration
We understand how difficult and overwhelming it can be when a loved one dies. Our office is here to help guide you through the steps you should take following your loss. If your loved one did not have any estate planning documents, or only had a Last Will and Testament, their estate will need to go through the probate process. If your loved one had a Revocable Living Trust, their estate will not need to be probated, but there are certain steps you must follow - called Trust Administration. We can help you through both of these processes.
Probate
If you need assistance probating the estate of a loved one or if you have been named as the Personal Representative of an estate, we are happy to help you with the probate process.
Probate is the judicial proceeding in which a judge supervises the disposition of a person’s assets after they die. In Idaho, if the deceased (also called the “decedent”) owned real property or if their estate has more than $100,000 in assets, their estate will likely need to be probated.
Probate can proceed (i) informally if the original signed Will is available or if the decedent did not have a Will and the estate is uncontested, or (ii) formally if the original Will is missing or the estate is contested. Informal probate is the most common type of probate. To learn more about the steps in the informal probate process, please click here.
For a copy of our "Personal Representative's Checklist", please click here. For our recent blog post on overlooked tasks to address after a loved one passes, please click here.
Trust Administration
When the creator of a Revocable Living Trust, also called a “trustor,” passes away, there are certain steps their successor Trustee must follow to distribute the assets in the Trust to the beneficiaries named in the Trust Agreement. This process is know as “Trust Administration.”
The steps involved in this process depend on several factors including the size of the trust estate, the type of assets held by the trust, whether there is a surviving spouse and/or surviving co-trustor, the complexity of the distribution provisions, and the number of beneficiaries.
Trust administration can involve the following:
Identifying and inventorying the trust assets
Obtaining date of death values for trust assets
Dividing a trust into two separate trusts following the death of the first spouse
Registering the trust
Notifying beneficiaries of their interest in the trust
Filing tax returns
Paying final expenses
Distributing assets to beneficiaries
Closing the estate
Given the potential complexities, it is important to consult with an attorney who specializes in estate planning. We are here to help you with this process, whether you are the successor trustee, surviving spouse, or a beneficiary of trust.
