Probate administration is the court-supervised process of collecting a deceased person’s assets, paying valid debts and taxes, and distributing what’s left to the rightful heirs or beneficiaries. In practice, it’s less “reading of the will” and more project management under a judge’s rules—with strict notice requirements, deadlines, and fiduciary duties that can expose a personal representative (executor) to personal liability if mishandled.
Below is how probate administration is handled legally in most U.S. jurisdictions, showing where families—and fiduciaries—tend to get burned.
Step 1: Opening the estate and appointing the personal representative
Probate starts by filing a petition in the proper court (usually where the decedent lived) and lodging the will (if one exists). The court then issues authority to a personal representative/executor—often via “letters” (letters testamentary/letters of administration).
Key legal point: the personal representative is a fiduciary. That means duties of loyalty, care, accounting, and impartiality among beneficiaries. States vary on terminology and paperwork, but the fiduciary concept is consistent.
For an example of how formal probate authority and court filings become central to disputes, look at the ongoing conflict involving Michael Jackson’s estate. Paris Jackson’s challenge to estate administration ran into a procedural wall when a judge/referee struck major portions of her petition under California’s anti-SLAPP framework—partly because the claims relied heavily on protected court filings and litigation activity.
Step 2: Notice, notice, notice (beneficiaries and creditors)
Probate isn’t private. Administration typically requires:
- notice to heirs/beneficiaries (and sometimes known creditors),
- publication notice to unknown creditors,
- service requirements that trigger claim deadlines.
This “notice architecture” is where many estates get delayed or litigated—especially when someone alleges they were excluded or misled.
Also: attempts to “avoid probate” can create their own legal exposure. In late 2025, New York’s Attorney General moved against a company accused of illegally preparing transfer-on-death deeds—a reminder that estate-related documents are not DIY-friendly when you’re not authorized to practice law.
Step 3: Marshaling and valuing assets (the inventory)
The personal representative must locate, secure, and value probate assets—bank accounts, vehicles, real property, business interests, personal property, and sometimes digital assets. Non-probate assets (like many beneficiary-designated accounts) may pass outside probate, but that line isn’t always clean—especially if designations are disputed or an asset is titled incorrectly.
A recurring flashpoint is who controls the process and what forum gets to decide asset ownership. In a November 2025 Sixth Circuit matter involving a Michigan probate dispute, the court held a federal court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to compel arbitration of an ongoing probate proceeding. Translation: probate administration is overwhelmingly a state-court domain, and you often can’t “route around” probate court just by pointing to an arbitration clause.
Step 4: Paying debts, expenses, and taxes (in the correct order)
Once assets are identified, administration turns to claims:
- valid creditor claims (within deadlines),
- administrative expenses (court costs, appraisers, fiduciary fees),
- final medical bills, and
- taxes (income tax, possibly estate tax in rare cases federally, and state-level obligations depending on jurisdiction).
Even when an estate is wealthy, beneficiaries often fight about professional fees—especially attorney compensation and whether the court is scrutinizing it properly. That’s part of why the Paris Jackson dispute matters as a real-world example: it’s not just “family drama,” it’s a legal fight about transparency, oversight, and whether payments and approvals complied with governing orders and procedures.
For baseline federal tax context (final returns, income issues for estates/trusts), the IRS’s estate/trust guidance is a reliable starting point: see the IRS overview of estate and trust filing basics.
Step 5: Distribution and closing the estate (the accounting)
Only after debts/expenses are handled should distributions occur. Many states require:
- interim accountings (or at least records available on demand),
- a final accounting/petition,
- receipts/releases from beneficiaries, and
- a court order closing the estate (or a simplified closing statement in small/unsupervised administrations where permitted).
This is where fiduciaries get into danger: early distributions can trigger clawbacks, surcharge actions, or allegations of breach of duty—especially if a later creditor claim surfaces or a beneficiary alleges unequal treatment.
Why probate administration becomes litigation
Most probate fights boil down to one of four things:
- Control (who is the personal representative and what powers they have),
- Information (accounting transparency and record access),
- Money (fees, asset valuations, and who “gets what”), and
- Forum (which court gets to decide—state probate court is usually the gravitational center).
The late-2025 news cycle captured all four: enforcement actions over unauthorized “avoid probate” services, high-profile scrutiny of executor decision-making and fees, and appellate reinforcement that probate administration typically stays where it began—inside state probate court.
Practical takeaway: probate is a legal process, not just paperwork
If you’re administering an estate, your best protection is boring but effective:
- document every decision,
- meet notice and deadline requirements,
- separate estate funds from personal funds,
- get valuations when appropriate, and
- don’t freelance legal work outside your authority.
And if you’re a beneficiary, focus less on suspicions and more on enforceable rights: accountings, inventories, objections, and court-supervised approvals—because probate court runs on procedure, not vibes.
If you need guidance on timelines, filings, or fiduciary risk in a Florida matter, it may be worth speaking with a Florida probate administration law firm.
