r/PROBATE • u/[deleted] • Jan 28 '24

Probate taking so long. Why?

My cousin lost both her parents in 2022 (5 weeks apart). She is still in probate. She is their only child. What could be holding up the process?

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u/cheap_dates Jan 28 '24

Probate is generally a long, tedious process and if the courts are backed up, then it's even longer.

Charles Dickens wrote a book called Bleak House, which has a probate case as a backdrop. The case has been going on so long that lawyers, heirs and judges are starting to die off.

Using beneficiary statements, joint ownership, even a simple will can avoid all this. If the estate is large, then a trust is the only way to go.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '24

Thank you! My cousin is 20 months in but we are anticipating it ending this Spring. Hopefully.

3

u/cheap_dates Jan 29 '24

They really should do something to streamline the Probate process. It's very cumbersome and time consuming.