Reno, TX Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

It depends on what you want to accomplish and the complexity of your estate. For most couples, a will does the trick. If you have a more complicated estate, or you have issues of capacity, a trust may be preferable.

Even if your mother had signed a power of attorney before she died, it became invalid the moment she passed away. A power of attorney ends at death. At this point, you would need to be appointed executor (if she had a will) or administrator (if she did not have a will) in order to take care of her estate.

It means two things.  First, you agree that you do not need to know the date of the hearing and be present.  Second, it means that you agree that your stepmother should be able to administer your father's estate free of court supervision.  This means that she does need to submit an inventory but does not need the court's permission to sell, for example, your father's car and does not need to provide an accounting to the court.  A beneficiary may nonetheless request an accountign 15 months after the executor is appointed. Are you sure that a Will is being probated?  Ordinarily, beneficiaries are notified after, not before, a Will is admitted to probate.  In an intestacy, heirs are asked to sign a distributee's waiver of notice and consent to application for independent administration before the hearing.