Probate or Not / Estate with house

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Dallas, TX
My grandfather passed in Nov. '09 leaving his life insurance to my grandmother. My aunt did not file the paper work correctly before my grandmother passed in Jan. '10. She left 5 surving children to split everything equally leaving a will. The insurance comp is asking for a copy of the of the will and Small Estate Afidavit in order to pay the funds. The house my grandparents lived in was owned 50% by them and 50% by my mother who passed 5 years ago leaving her 50% to my dad. Do we probate the will? What do we do to resolve the property and monies left in the bank account? Bank account has nearly $50,000 in it with an additional $10,000 still to be paid and the house is valued at approx $45,000.

Another fact, one of my aunt's is on my grandparents back account.

Please help before we spend thousands of dollars with a laywer.

Thank You,
Brian

Probate is needed for the house so that legal title can be properly transferred to the heirs.

Bank account will not go into probate since under the concept of right of survivorship the money automatically goes to the aunt whose name is listed on the account.

The fact that apparently no beneficiaries were designated for the insurance policy means that the good news is that money goes into the estate to be divided amongst the heirs.

Make some discreet inquiries with various probate attorneys to find out what the legal rate is for executors; normally it is a percentage of the value of the estate and will NOT cost thousands of dollars. If no one has time to take off of work to handle this you may need an attorney to do it for you.

Dandy Don said:

Bank account will not go into probate since under the concept of right of survivorship the money automatically goes to the aunt whose name is listed on the account.

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Since the OP said only that "...one of my aunt's is on my grandparents back account", that is an unwarranted conclusion. Particularly in the state of Texas since the Texas Probate Code says:

§ 439. RIGHT OF SURVIVORSHIP. (a) Sums remaining on
deposit at the death of a party to a joint account belong to the
surviving party or parties against the estate of the decedent if, by
a written agreement signed by the party who dies, the interest of
such deceased party is made to survive to the surviving party or
parties. Notwithstanding any other law, an agreement is sufficient
to confer an absolute right of survivorship on parties to a joint
account under this subsection if the agreement states in
substantially the following form: "On the death of one party to a
joint account, all sums in the account on the date of the death vest
in and belong to the surviving party as his or her separate property
and estate." A survivorship agreement will not be inferred from the
mere fact that the account is a joint account.

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bkey01 said:

The house my grandparents lived in was owned 50% by them and 50% by my mother who passed 5 years ago leaving her 50% to my dad. Do we probate the will?

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HOW did mom hold title with her parents? WAs her interest legally dealt with when she died?

bkey01 said:

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? She left 5 surving children to split everything equally leaving a will. The insurance comp is asking for a copy of the of the will and Small Estate Afidavit in order to pay the funds.

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Don't go chasing your tail on the small estate affidavit since the insurance company's request contains a logical inconsistency.

§ 137. COLLECTION OF SMALL ESTATES UPON AFFIDAVIT.

(a) The distributees of the estate of a decedent who dies intestate
shall be entitled thereto,...

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