A Rhode Island couple keeps a place on the Cape. A New York family inherits a grandmother’s house in the Berkshires. A father who retired to Florida never sold the two-family in Worcester. When the owner dies, the family opens probate where the person lived and assumes that takes care of everything. Then a buyer’s … Read more

A Connecticut man dies owning a beach house in Newport. A retired couple from Florida kept the Providence three-decker they raised their children in. In each case the family opens probate where the person actually lived, and they assume that proceeding settles everything. Then they try to sell the Rhode Island house, and the title … Read more

The short answer first, because it is the one families actually want. A straightforward, uncontested Massachusetts estate commonly takes somewhere in the range of about a year to settle, with many running in the twelve-to-eighteen-month neighborhood and complicated ones going well beyond that. The single biggest reason it rarely closes faster is not the court. … Read more

The short answer first, because it is the one families actually want. A straightforward, uncontested Rhode Island estate commonly takes somewhere between nine and eighteen months to settle, and contested matters go substantially longer. The single biggest reason it is rarely faster is not the court alone. It is the creditor period, a legally required … Read more

Most families come to Massachusetts probate carrying two things at once: grief, and a bank that will not move. Someone has died, the will is sitting in a drawer, and the people left behind need a court to say who has authority before anyone can touch an account or sign a deed. The questions arrive … Read more