Did your loved one recently pass away and now you need to take care of the business side of this painful situation with paperwork, legal speak, and overwhelm? Right up front, I’m very sorry for your loss.

This can be a very difficult and emotional time for you. And now you’re left to sort everything out. Hi, my name is John Herman of PropertyUp and I’ve been selling real estate for over 18 years in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. We have found this type of transaction can be one of the most emotional to navigate. To help you out I wanted to share some terms that you need to know to make your time a little less confusing.

Probate is the process of deciding where how and to whom to distribute the descendant’s property. Another term is the personal representative. As a personal representative, you may have been chosen as the personal representative also known as the executor, or administrator. This means that you are the person designated to administer the estate and ensure that the deceased person’s wishes are performed.

Other probate terms are intestate versus Testate. Intestate means someone passed away and left a will. Intestate means that they passed without a will. Now estate means the state is the total possessions or assets including jewelry money, stocks, and land the inventory and appraisal is a list of all the assets and the estate. The term property means valued at fair market value by the probate referee. These are just a few of the many terms that you’re going to see regularly.

For more information or any questions please contact me and definitely a probate attorney near you. Also, be sure to seek the advice of a lawyer or an attorney as I’m not an attorney or lawyer. I’m just giving you helpful information.

I’m John Herman with PropertyUp and as always, when you do what you love, people love what you do. And if you’re thinking about selling or buying in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, we are here to help.