When people hear the word probate, they often assume it means something went terribly wrong. That is not exactly how we look at it. Probate is the court-supervised process for settling a person’s affairs after death. It exists to ensure debts are paid, and assets go to the right people in the right order, with a paper trail.
So, probate is not inherently bad. But in our experience, most families still want to avoid it whenever possible.
The main reasons are straightforward. Probate is public, slow, and expensive.
In New Hampshire, probate typically starts when a will is filed with the probate court, along with a death certificate. If there is no will, the process still begins with the court. One of the first things the court does is validate the will, if one exists, and appoint someone to manage the estate. That person is usually called the executor if there is a will, or an administrator if there is not.
Once appointed, that person is responsible for handling the estate through a court process that unfolds in stages. They have to gather information, identify probate assets, provide values, deal with creditors, address taxes, keep records, and eventually request permission to distribute assets and close the estate.
For many families, one of the biggest surprises is that probate is a public record.
When probate is opened, there are notice requirements. This includes giving notice to all beneficiaries and heirs at law, as well as to potential creditors. Beyond that, probate filings can be searched, and the will and other filings may be accessible through the court system. That means people can potentially see what someone owned, what debts existed, and who is receiving what. For clients who value privacy, that comes as a real shock.
The timeline is another major issue.
Even in a relatively simple estate, probate in New Hampshire is not fast. There is an initial court process to validate the will and appoint the executor. That alone may take 30 to 90 days, depending on the court and how quickly filings are completed. After that, the executor must inventory assets and provide date-of-death values, which may take additional weeks or even months.
Then there is the creditor period. In New Hampshire, there is typically a six-month period for creditors after the date of appointment. That waiting period alone makes quick resolution impossible. And after debts and taxes are resolved, there is still a final accounting and a request to close the estate. Even a simple estate may take seven to nine months at the quickest. Add complexity, and a year or more is common.
Cost is the third issue.
People often think about attorney fees first, but those are only part of the picture. There may also be court filing fees, bond fees, valuation costs, estate sale costs, and other administrative expenses. For even a moderately sized estate, the total cost of administration can become significant.
Another important point is that not everything goes through probate. Assets with named beneficiaries, such as many retirement accounts and life insurance policies, often pass outside probate. Jointly owned property may also pass outside probate. Probate generally involves the assets a person owned in their name alone, without a joint owner or named beneficiary.
That is why estate planning matters so much.
With thoughtful planning, probate may be minimized or, in some cases, largely avoided. Properly structured planning, including the use of a revocable trust and proper asset titling and beneficiary designations, can reduce the amount that ends up in the probate estate.
For many of our clients, once they understand what probate actually involves, avoiding or minimizing it becomes one of their top goals. Not because probate is automatically disastrous, but because the process is often more public, more expensive, and more time-consuming than families expect.
And importantly, all of that usually happens while the family is grieving.
That is one reason estate planning is often best understood not just as document preparation, but as a gift to the people who will someday have to manage your affairs. Good planning can reduce stress, delay, cost, and unnecessary complications at exactly the time your family is least equipped to deal with them.
If you are reviewing your plan, it can be helpful to ask a simple question: which of my assets would actually go through probate, and which would not? That is often the starting point for more effective planning.