Unfortunately things sometimes do not go smoothly during estate administration. Also, there may be times when a party wants the added conclusiveness of a court order. At such times EPIC provides for the court to settle issues of estate administration through formal proceedings. Formal proceedings are defined as proceedings conducted before a judge with notice to interested parties. Formal proceedings were discussed in an earlier note as one of the methods which can be used to start an estate by formal testacy or formal appointment.
EPIC also provides for independent requests to the court.
This provision provides that any interested person at any time may petition the court for an answer to any question that arises in the administration of an estate. The petition is independent in that it does not result in continued court involvement in any other matter. Such a formal proceeding is initiated by filing a petition. There is not a specific form for such formal proceedings since each proceeding will be different depending on the question raised. If it is insufficient to adequately state all of the facts, an original petition may need to be drafted.