Every estate your firm touches travels the same arc, from the first intake call to the order that closes the file. Naming the phases and knowing what each one demands is what keeps a matter moving and keeps the executor (and you) out of trouble. Specific deadlines and thresholds vary by state; treat this as the shape of the work, not legal advice for a particular matter.
Phase 1: Intake & Engagement (Pre-Filing)
Before any court documents are touched, the lawyer must determine whether they can and should take the case.
- Conflict check. Run against every party named in the will and every potential heir. Representing one beneficiary but not another can create an ethical conflict that requires withdrawal.
- Document review. Read the Last Will & Testament or determine that the estate is intestate. Look for "no-contest" clauses, the specific powers granted to the executor, and any trusts that might bypass probate entirely.
- Asset assessment. Is there enough value to justify formal probate? Below a state threshold (for example, ~$150k), an Affidavit of Small Estate or summary administration may be the better path.
- Engagement letter & fee agreement. Define how the firm gets paid: statutory, hourly, or flat fee and who is responsible for court costs and bonds.
Phase 2: Petition & Appointment (Opening the Estate)
This stage officially notifies the court that someone has died and that an administrator needs to be appointed.
- Draft the petition. Prepare the Petition for Probate (or for Administration), listing the decedent, the will, the heirs and beneficiaries, and the proposed personal representative.
- File with the clerk. File with the Superior/Probate Court and pay the filing fee.
- Notice of hearing. Schedule a hearing date and provide legal notice to all heirs and beneficiaries typically by certified mail, plus newspaper publication to reach unknown creditors and heirs.
- The hearing. A brief appearance in which the judge reviews the petition. If no one objects, the judge signs an Order for Probate.
- Letters Testamentary / Authority to Act. The "golden ticket": the court-issued document that gives the executor legal authority to access accounts, sell real estate, and manage assets in the estate's name.
Phase 3: Estate Administration (The "Middle" Work)
Once appointed, the clock starts ticking on statutory deadlines. The lawyer guides the executor through their fiduciary duties.
- Inventory & appraisal. Within a set window (e.g. four months in California), file an Inventory and Appraisement listing every asset at its date-of-death value. Independent appraisers are often retained for real estate and business interests to head off later accusations of undervaluation.
- Notice to creditors. Publish formal notice and mail direct notices to known creditors. This opens the claims period (commonly 3–6 months), during which assets cannot be distributed because debts must be paid first.
- Estate bank account. Open an estate checking account under an EIN obtained from the IRS; all income and expenses flow through it.
- Debt validation & payment. Review incoming claims; file an Objection to Claim for any that are invalid or expired, and pay valid debts from the estate account.
Phase 4: Tax Compliance (The Hidden Hurdle)
Tax often causes the longest delays and usually requires coordination with a CPA.
- Final income tax return. The decedent's final personal return for the year of death.
- Estate income tax return (Form 1041). Required annually if the estate generates income interest, dividends during probate.
- Federal / state estate tax. Only for estates above the exemption (north of $13M federal in 2024), but state-level taxes may apply at considerably lower thresholds.
Phase 5: Accounting & Distribution (Closing the Books)
Once debts are paid and assets liquidated, the firm prepares to close the case.
- Draft the final account. Prepare a Petition for Final Distribution: a detailed accounting of every dollar in, every dollar spent on taxes, debts, and fees, and what remains.
- Beneficiary review. Beneficiaries receive the accounting and have a right to object if they believe the math is wrong or assets were mishandled.
- Court approval (optional or required). Some states require a hearing on the final distribution; in others, beneficiaries can sign a Waiver of Accounting and approve it privately.
- Disbursement. Wire funds or transfer titles, but only after collecting signed Receipts and Releases from every beneficiary, which protect the executor (and the firm) from later claims of being paid incorrectly.
Phase 6: Discharge & Closing
The final administrative step releases the executor from liability.
- Petition for discharge. File a request stating that all duties are complete, taxes are filed, and assets distributed.
- Order of discharge. The judge signs an order closing the estate's case number.
- File closing. Archive the file, typically retained 3–7 years depending on state statute.
- Final billing. Submit the final invoice to the estate account.
The Lawyer's Risk Radar: four common pitfalls
From a practitioner's view, these are the points where cases most often go wrong:
- The bond issue. If the will waives bond, good. If not, the executor must buy a bond, which costs money and requires underwriting. Catch it in Phase 2, not after.
- Missing heirs. Fail to locate an heir in Phase 2 and the case can be reopened years later by someone claiming they were never notified. Skip-tracing services exist for exactly this.
- Premature distribution. Distributing assets before the claims period expires is malpractice: creditors can pursue the executor personally if debts go unpaid.
- Tax liens. Filing returns incorrectly can produce IRS liens on estate property that must be satisfied before any beneficiary sees a dollar.
The phases never change. What separates a smooth administration from a reopened one is knowing, at every moment, which phase each matter is in and what it owes next.
Keep every matter's phase visible
Legsys tracks each estate's position in this lifecycle automatically and surfaces what each phase requires next so the inventory deadline, the open claims period, and the heir you still haven't reached are visible across your whole book, not buried in a single matter's file.