The Alabama estate attorney has two primary tools to avoid or shorten the probate process. The first is the Alabama Small Estate Procedure. The Small Estate Procedure allows estates worth less than $25,000 (indexed for inflation since 2009) to pass their estates through a shortened form of probate known as Summary Distribution of Small Estates.
Summary Distribution of Small Estates in a Nutshell
Testate or Intestate? Either.
Assets Covered: Personal property only (Summary Distribution of Small Estates is unavailable if the decedent owned real estate)
Dollar Limitations: $25,000.00
Who Can Benefit? The surviving spouse or the person otherwise entitled to the property.
Who Must Sign/File? The surviving spouse or other person who is entitled to the property.
Special Requirements: All funeral expenses of the decedent have been paid, or alternatively, that arrangements for the payment out of the estate of the decedent of all unpaid funeral expenses have been made by the surviving spouse or other distributee.
The second way that an Alabama estate attorney might shorten the probate process is through the use of statutory allowances. These allowances—which include the Homestead Exemption, the Exempt Property Allowance, and the Family Allowance—are set-asides for the family of a decedent. The assets covered by the allowances can pass to the family without an need for probate.
These alternatives are very limited and apply only in narrow situations. If a person owned Alabama property in his own name and the property does not pass to someone else automatically through beneficiary designations or joint ownership, probate will probably be required.