Probate is a court-supervised public process used in identifying, distributing, and paying taxes/claims/expenses of a decedent's assets (estate), whether the person dies with or without a will. During probate, many legal issues often arise, even in the simplest estate administration. In almost every instance, the estate must hire a licensed attorney to probate the estate.
Estates that are not required to file a federal estate tax return, and that do not involve litigation, generally close in five to six months. Although, in some cases, involving real estate or a contested matter, an administration can take longer.
There are a couple alternatives to formal administration. The most common is "summary administration", which is a process for estates worth less than $75,000 not including the homestead, and can be completed much faster and inexpensively than a formal administration.