If you have lost a loved one, you may be looking into how to probate the estate. You may have more questions than answers. The process can be overwhelming. If you have looked around online, we bet you find it nearly impossible to figure out what an attorney in Mississippi will charge to probate an estate. At Grant Legal Group, we believe it is important to be up front about our pricing, and that’s why we have written this post detailing our fees on probate matters.
But first, what does it mean to probate an estate? Probate is the term used for the process to give legal effect to a deceased person’s will and transfer inherited property to the beneficiaries. Also falling under “probate” is the process of transferring the property of a person who dies without a will to the heirs. If no will exists, more work is generally required because the court must hold a hearing to determine who is entitled to inherit (as opposed to merely carrying out the will’s provisions). If the deceased has a surviving spouse and children, they would inherit the estate. If the deceased had no spouse or children, the heirs are the next of kin according to the Mississippi statutes.
Sometimes, an estate is small enough that a full “probate” is not needed. This comes into play if the entire estate of the deceased person is worth less than $75,000. In such an instance, the deceased’s property can be transferred by drafting a “small estate affidavit” and providing that, along with a death certificate, to the institution holding the property (usually a bank or financial institution holding the deceased’s account).
These 3 scenarios equate to different pricing. A lot of attorneys bill hourly under open ended arrangements, and you pay for as many hours as it takes. We, instead, prefer flat fee pricing because, that way, you know exactly what it will cost at the beginning, and there are no surprises.
Generally, to probate a will, we charge a flat fee of $2,500. This includes everything. Our firm will pay any other fees, including the court filing fee and newspaper publication fee, out of our fee.
To handle an estate administration for someone who does without a will, we generally charge a flat fee of $3,500. This, too, includes all fees and is exactly what you would pay.
Finally, to handle a small estate matter, we generally charge $750 to draft the small estate affidavit and ensure the property is transferred properly.
Importantly, while we do require up-front payment for the legal fees, you can usually get reimbursed out of the deceased’s assets when the matter concludes. This requires court approval, but is routinely approved. Most of the time, we can complete an estate administration in 4 to 6 months.
If an estate is particularly complex for some reason, the fees can be more than what is stated in this post. But in the vast majority of cases, the fees fall in line with what is stated above.
We hope this post is helpful to anyone looking for a wills-and-estates attorney. If you would like to discuss your estate matter with us, please call us at (601) 827-3031 or email us using the contact link provided on our website.