my family is confused as to what to expect after death in oklahoma?

[Mike Manning]

an elderly family member lives in comanche county
oklahoma. said family member has a will with assets comprised of
stocks, cd's, real estate and personal property estimated to be
be less 600K. hiers live in other states and don't know what to
expect. who appraises the estate, must the estate be
probated, what time line and mandated costs should be
expected; state death tax, fees, etc.? is there away to avoid
probate in oklahoma? if so can you advise?

 

[advisor10]

3-28-2002

DEAR MR. MANNING:

My condolences on your loss.

Please state exactly what city (if you know) the death occurred in, and also the name of the decedent (my e-mail address is shown below).

You will need to hire a Comanche County probate attorney to handle this estate, and I'd like to send you some referrals, and they will contact you directly or you can contact them.

Attorney can gather mostly all of the information, but it helps if there is a friend or family member of the deceased who can get access to the decedent's home to go through personal papers.

Executor fees in Oklahoma:
5% OF THE FIRST $1,000 ESTATE VALUE, plus
4% OF THE NEXT $5,000, plus
2.5% of ANY EXCESS OVER $6,000

It may be too late to figure out a strategy to avoid probate now, but the attorney can give you more information about this aspect. Yes, an estate this size must be probated.

SINCERELY,

advisor ([email protected])
Tulsa, Oklahoma

 

[ALawyer]

The elderly family member could see an OKLA estate planning lawyer and if appropriate could place substantially all his or her assets in a living trust and that would avoid probate.

 

[curb1]

It has been my experience with the deaths in our extended family, that those who had an attorney as the executor, got taken to the cleaners every time. It is outrageous what most attorneys will do if given free reign on an estate. There might be some that won't take advantage of you, but we never found one who didn't. I have many friends who are attorneys and they just chuckle when I relay the stories.