How Soon After Death Is a Will Probated?
There's no real deadline to execute a will after death, according to MSN Money. Barring some special circumstance, the deceased's personal representative can take whatever time is necessary to look through estate papers and decide on appropriate actions. If the deceased was in the middle of a complex financial transaction prior to death, the probate process may begin quickly.
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Types
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State laws govern how wills are executed and may have differing rules about the types of wills it accepts as valid. A written will that is signed by the decedent and by witnesses is accepted in all states. Your state may require signatures to be notarized. Other kinds of wills, such as those written by hand or recorded by voice, are not accepted as valid by many states.
Function
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The state probate court supervises the activities and decisions made by the will's executor. To audit the process, courts often ask executors to provide inventories and valuations on property that belongs to the estate. Such activities must be filed and reviewed by the court before the executor may disburse the estate to beneficiaries.
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Considerations
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Some estate assets are not distributed through the will, such as deeded property or accounts that have designated beneficiaries. For example, an IRA custodian can readily distribute the account to a named beneficiary once it validates the most recent beneficiary form. The probate process will delay an IRA distribution, however, if the IRA designates the "estate" as beneficiary.
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References
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