Leanna Hamill, Attorney at Law, P.C.

As a Hingham elder law attorney, I am often asked by clients “how long will this take” when they begin probating a family member’s estate. (Probate is essentially the process by which certain property passes from a deceased person to their heirs and beneficiaries.) Like many things in life, it depends. Some of the time is based on Court waiting periods and statutory time frames, sometimes what it depends upon is within the control of the executor and the other heirs. Other times, delays are caused by disagreements or uncertainties.

Here are some situations that can cause delays in the probate and distribution of an estate:

Creditors in Massachusetts have a year to come forward and make a claim against the estate. The personal representative (the new name for the executor) should therefore hold back some of the funds from the estate until this time frame has passed to make sure there are enough funds in the estate to pay debts.
If there are people named in the will who cannot be located, or who have passed away or become incapacitated, this can cause delays while they are located or their estate have been opened or had guardians appointed.
Sometimes beneficiaries don’t know what property was owned by the decedent and time is spent looking for stock certificates or trying to locate real estate in another state or country.
Sometimes heirs can’t decide what to do with a piece of real estate and time is spent trying to come to an agreement or settle the matter in court.
When there are disagreements over who should serve as personal representative of the estate, things come to a stand-still until that is resolved.
If there is a disagreement over the validity of a Will, that issue must be settled before any kind of distribution can be made out of the estate.
If there is a dispute about how title to real estate is held, that can tie up the settlement of the estate.
If a person has died without a will and there is difficult in determining and locating heirs that will cause delays in the distribution of the estate.

Some ways to prevent delays in the distribution of your estate:

Make sure you have a clear record of your family members, their relationship to you, and current addresses and phone numbers for them. This becomes more important if you don’t have children or a spouse, but have siblings, cousins or more removed relatives who may need to receive notice of the probate of your estate before the process can proceed.
Have an updated list of all your assets, how they are held and where they are located.
Talk to your South Shore estate planning attorney about alternatives to the probate process.
Talk to your family members about your plans for distributing your estate to minimize disagreements later on.
Make sure that you have clear title to your real estate and that you know the location of stock certificates or savings bonds that you own.