In many states, in order to transfer a person's estate to their heirs, the transfer must take place through a court specifically with the power to transfer estates to the heirs called the probate court . Where a person dies without a will the distribution of assets is usually is determined using a formula stated in a state's law sometimes referred to as that state's statute of descent and distribution. Where a person who dies having executed a valid will, his or her property is distributed according to their will rather than through use of an arbitrary formula. The probate process can take from several months to several years depending on many practical and legal factors. Many persons today take advantage of such estate planning devices such as revocable living trusts in order to legally avoid probate.
Estate taxation is the term generally applied to taxing of a deceased person's estate.
Each state is different and care needs to be taken to take into account the law applicable to your state and whether federal estate taxes will be due. Once this number is determined, the appropriate estate tax rate is applied to the net assets of the estate to determine how much, if any, tax is owed by the estate. This is a simplified statement of probate procedure which may or may not apply dependent of the state of domicile of the decedent. This is for general information only. This site provides general information only.