How Probate Works in Massachusetts

File a petition for informal or formal probate of the will and/or appointment of a personal representative with the Probate and Family Court in the county where the person lived. Once appointed, the personal representative prepares an inventory within 3 months and files it with the court or mails it to interested persons, pays valid claims and taxes, and distributes the estate. The estate may be closed by a sworn closing statement filed no earlier than 6 months after appointment, after the creditor claim period has ended.

Besides voluntary administration, an estate that is no larger than family allowances, exempt property, administration costs, reasonable funeral expenses and last-illness medical expenses may be distributed right away without notice to creditors and closed with a sworn closing statement. Informal (non-hearing) probate and appointment is also available: the petitioner must give heirs and devisees 7 days' written notice before filing and publish a notice within 30 days after appointment.

A creditor of the deceased generally must start a lawsuit against the personal representative within 1 year after the date of death, and serve the personal representative (or file a notice of the claim with the register) within that year. Exceptions include enforcing a mortgage or other lien on estate property and certain personal injury claims limited to insurance proceeds.

Priority for appointment as personal representative: a person named in the will, then a surviving spouse who is a devisee, other devisees, the surviving spouse, other heirs, and (if there is no known spouse or next of kin) a public administrator. Those with priority may nominate someone else. A personal representative files a bond; sureties on the bond are required unless the will waives them, all heirs or devisees waive them in writing, the representative is a qualified bank or trust company, or the court finds sureties are not in the estate's best interest.

Voluntary administration: if a Massachusetts resident left only personal property (no real estate) worth no more than $25,000, plus a motor vehicle of any value, an interested person may file a sworn voluntary personal representative statement with the Probate and Family Court in the county where the person lived, on the court's form, at least 30 days after death and if no petition for a personal representative has been filed. The statement lists assets, heirs and will beneficiaries, and is filed with the original will (if any) and a death certificate. The register then issues an attested copy, which the voluntary personal representative uses to collect the assets.