What Estate Expenses Must Be Paid?

Let’s assume the following fact pattern: you are one of two equal heirs in an Estate.  The Estate is home worth $370,000 with a remaining mortgage of about $150,000.  If the house were sold and the mortgage paid off, that will leave about $200,000 available to the Estate.  But what other costs will have to be paid before you and the other heir receive the balance?

Often times, the deceased has left substantial medical bills, which may be covered by health insurance.  If not, then sometimes the State of CA paid these bills, and the State will have a priority claim against the Estate to recover their costs (i.e. the remaining $200,000 cash in the Estate will be reduced by any such claim).

After the Estate administrator has published notice of the passing of the deceased, creditors have a period of time to file a claim seeking reimbursement from the Estate.  Timely filed claims may be accepted, rejected, litigated or paid.

The administrator will be responsible to go over the bills and records left by the deceased and pay the appropriate claims, such as utility bills, credit card, charge card bill, etc.

Finally, there are legal expenses, including but not limited to attorney fees, Court filing fees, Referee charges, etc.

After all claims are resolved, a final accounting is presented to Court.  Assuming the Court approves the final accounting, a final distribution can occur to the heirs entitled to such a distribution.  A typical probate administration process is about 18 months.

But for those heirs who need immediate cash, those heirs should call Advance Inheritance for a cash advance at 800-624-0878.