Although there is no official penalty for not probating a will failing to do so may result in severe consequences in some cases. If you don’t probate a will within four years after someone passes away, that will usually become invalid. You lose your opportunity to have the will probated, which can lead to really harsh consequences. For example, I had a client come to me two weeks before the four-year period was up. My client had been raised by her aunt from birth as an only child but was never legally adopted. Had we not rushed to probate the will before the 4-year statute of limitations, the consequences would have been devastating. The will left everything to her, which included highly valuable mineral interests in West Texas. Without a will, not only would she not receive her full share of her inheritance, but she would also she would have had to track down 15 of her cousins to let them know that they were all 1/15th heirs under the Texas intestate code. It would have skyrocketed the legal fees, and tied up the assets for years in the probate system. That is just one example of why it’s so important to get a will before someone passes away and call a probate attorney to get it probated.