Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Will probate question

Yall dig out your Aldeer law degrees and answer me a question please. When exactly does a will need to be probated? My mom is always planning and talking, and giving me instructions, like old folks do. I’m her only heir. Her will states that everything she owns goes to me upon her death. Thing is, the only thing she owns, that I’m not a co-owner of, is her car. I’m on her bank accounts as a co-owner, and she doesn’t own a house, but rather lives with us. She owes no one anything. Would her will need to be probated, upon her death? The way I read it, the only reason to probate is if possessions are solely in her name. Should we have myself added to the title of her vehicle, to make that co-owned? Know some of yall have had to go through this and was wanting some guidance. I know it sounds morbid to discuss this but she is big on planning and asked me some of this stuff today and I have no clue.

I’m going through the same with my dad. Best I can tell, it has to be probated after the named person’s death. It’s to make sure the document is legal and no debts are owed and the estate is handled as per the named persons wishes. Kinda crazy that you have to go through it being the sole heir but you never know when a long lost “relative” will come out of the woodwork to challenge it.

i see no need to probate it . nothing to probate . being on the banking account is a very good thing . if you wasnt , then you need to probate to get the money

Put it in a trust.

Probate is a problem solving process that you only engage if the problem can’t be solved any other way. Vehicle titles can be changed with a form you can get at probate.

In Alabama, most wills do require probate, which is the legal process of validating the will and administering the estate. However, there are exceptions where probate might be avoided, such as when the estate's value is below a certain threshold or when assets are held in ways that bypass probate.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Probate is generally necessary:
If a will exists and the deceased owned assets in their name alone that are subject to probate (like real estate, bank accounts without beneficiaries, or life insurance policies payable to the estate), then probate is usually required to transfer those assets to the beneficiaries.
https://www.google.com/search?q=doe...ZpDPWkQ&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This; I was on all my Mom's accounts and was executor. I distributed the assets to myself and 2 brothers as called out in the will; per my lawyer and accountant. They recommended keeping any bank, brokerage or credit card accounts active for 6 months prior to closing in case there were any delayed credits, etc. If there are any insurance policies; death certificate will get you the proceeds. Biggest problem was getting Social Security and Veteran's benefits to stop sending funds.
Planning by being on accounts makes things very easy.

Huh why in the world would he do that?

We had a lawyer draw everything up before he passed away. My understanding most all have to go thru probate if there is a certain level of assets. We had everything setup and legal and still had to wait for the probate period to complete. I understood it to mean if dad owed owed someone money that could place a lean on the property and or assets. Any credit cards etc…. That had debt in his name.

What we interesting was when mom passed away she only had some credit cards etc in her name and owed a few thousand, that was wiped clean since it was in her name and everything of value was in dads name. The credit card etc unsecured debt.

If you are already on everything she has then there is nothing to probate. I wouldn’t put my name on vehicle if she still drives because this would make you liable as well if she had an at fault wreck. The vehicle title can be easily changed upon her passing.

My Moms estate was more complicated than that. We didn’t probate it. F them.

My mother was living in a rental house across the road from us, she had quit driving but had a car, we put the title in both of our names before she died, after she died it was an easy fix to get it my name. My brothers and I were all on her banking accounts, brokerage accounts were set up to transfer upon death. No probate, kept checking open for months for any late payments then closed it out, everything was split 3 ways except the car which was willed to me, easy

I don't know AL, and if there's any real money to worry about a consultation with a lawyer is cheap, but you'll probably just take her off the account when you have a death certificate. The car, she should just sell you know for a dollar.

If there's any cash or any untitled valuables lying around, it never existed.

But, again, if there's significant value, then an hour of an experienced lawyer's time is cheap.

I would not go through probate . If she’s already planning for you I would just get a non dated bill of sale for the car . Lawyers just want money sad .

I assumed FAR more people never even heard of “probating” or much less have a will.
As always, we’re in the minority on here and try to do right. I would talk to an attorney for sure. Cheap insurance imo.

Reads to me that since your on the savings and checking bank accounts as being with Rights of Survivorship your good there. The only thing you need do is get with her and make up a bill of sale giving you or stating you purchased the car before she passed and that should take care of the matter. have no outstanding bills or liens. No need to probate.

Add your name to the car title, and/or