Estate Administration

The Probate Process

The administration of an estate is a very broad term. It is simply used to describe the process of an individual, generally an administrator or executor of an estate, locating and gathering a decedent’s assets, paying any debts and transferring the decedent’s property to the designated beneficiaries or to the decedent’s heirs.

Depending on the circumstances of each matter, the different steps and timeline for the administration of an estate can be very different. Two main types of administrations are: independent and dependent. An independent executor and an independent administrator can act independently of the probate court’s supervision, with a few exceptions. A dependent administrator acts under the probate court’s supervision. This means the dependent administrator generally must request court approval before taking a specific action.