Advertising for Estate

Probate is the process of handling an individual’s estate after they pass away. If the individual had a will, it should name an executor. An executor is the person designated to be responsible for the administration of a person’s estate. If the individual did not have a will, their next of kin can apply to be appointed as administrator of that individual’s estate. Part of the probate process is advertisement of the estate. The purpose of advertisement is to put any interested parties on notice of the death of the decedent.

Two types of advertisement are needed. First, notice should be published in the local law reporter for the county where probate is initiated. Second, notice should be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county. Proper advertisement protects the executor or administrator in terms of their fiduciary responsibility to properly carry out the estate. After one year from date of advertisement, creditors can no longer make a claim against the estate and the executor or administrator can feel confident in making any distributions of the estate after that point.  By April M. Townsend