Probate is a legal proceeding where the judge of a surrogate's court (or the equivalent) takes judicial notice of a decedent's death, admits a will (that is, declares one will to be the valid last will and testament of the decedent), appoints an executor (usually, but not always the person selected in the will) who will have the responsibility of accounting for and settling all debts and claims of the estate, after which he will distribute any remaining assets as required by the will and the law.

The executor will be given plenary but supervised power to distribute the assets belonging to the decedent's will. Any objectants or creditors unhappy with the executor's actions will be able to, in the course of the probate action, seek to have the executor's decisions overturned by the court (i.e., the judge).

A probate proceeding is usually brought by the next of kin of the decedent, but in some cases may be brought by the estate's creditors. A similar, but slightly different type of proceeding may be used when (a) the estate's assets are very small when compared to the cost of a normal probate, and (b) when there is no will - in which case the type of proceeding is generally called an "intestate administration" instead of a probate, an "administrator" is appointed that essentially has all of the same powers and duties as the "executor," and the decedent's estate is distributed in accordance with the default rules of "who gets what" established by that particular state's intestacy laws.

- Probate Experts

You opened floor for inheritance format yboys