Do all wills have to be filed in the Probate Court?

Additional Information:

There is no real estate (house in foreclosure) there is an old truck, furniture and clothing, etc…

Probate question from Boston, MA

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Massachusetts law requires the person in possession of a decedent’s last will and testament file it with the probate court located in the county where the decedent was domiciled (lived) at death within thirty days from the decedent’s date of death. Usually the named executor files the will with the applicable probate court. Based on my experience, it usually does not happen within the required thirty day due date. It appears the executor may be dealing with an insolvent estate. Even though the real estate (house) is in foreclosure, if it was owned by the decedent individually, it is part of the decedent’s probate estate. The tangible personal property (old truck, furniture, clothing, etc.) also is part of the decedent’s probate estate. The lender may look to the decedent’s probate estate for any financial deficiency relating to the foreclosure process. So, the executor may want to proceed with an insolvency probate court proceeding (unless it is cost prohibitive to do so).

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The attorneys at The Beliveau Law Group provides legal services for estate planning (wills and trusts), Medicaid (planning and applications), probate (estate and trust administration), business law (formation and operation), real estate (residential and commercial), taxation (federal and state), and civil litigation (in connection with these practice areas). The law firm has offices and attorneys in Naples, Florida, Waltham, Massachusetts, and Salem, New Hampshire.

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