The Personal Representative and attorney's fees are significant charges to the Probate Estate; but they are not the only charges against the Estate. A Probate proceeding can incur some or all of the following expenses:
$$ Court filing fees
$$ The cost of a bond that the Court may order for the protection of your Probate Estate
$$ The cost of notifying your creditors which may include publishing notice, or mailing notice to them by registered or certified mail
$$ The cost of an appraisal
$$ Accounting fees to prepare an inventory, and account for monies spent during Probate
$$ The cost of transferring property to the proper beneficiaries; i.e., recording fees, broker fees to sell securities or real estate
Once the above costs, Personal Representative fees, attorney fees, taxes and all valid claims are paid, the Personal Representative will distribute whatever is left to the proper beneficiaries and then close the Estate.
You may be thinking that Probate is a good thing to avoid. Why should your Personal Representative go through all that effort to settle your Estate? Why should your beneficiaries wait months or maybe years, and pay all these fees to inherit your Estate?
There are ways to arrange your Estate so that your beneficiaries can immediately inherit your Estate without incurring unnecessary costs. Find out how by attending an estate planning workshop near you. www.rbsllc.com/workshops