Settling someone’s affairs.

The single highest-leverage decision.

Almost every estate benefits from one hour with a local estate attorney ($150 to $400). They tell you whether probate is required, what forms you need, and where the landmines are. Skip this only if the estate is very small and very simple.

Probate is usually NOT required when:

• Assets are held in a revocable living trust.
• Accounts have a named beneficiary (life insurance, IRA, 401(k), payable-on-death bank account).
• Property is held jointly with right of survivorship (most married couples’ homes and bank accounts).
• The estate is small (most states have a small-estate threshold of $50,000 to $200,000).

Was your person on Medicaid?

The state may send a letter months from now claiming repayment from the estate — usually against the house. It looks like a bill; it isn’t one, and federal law builds in real protections. Read our calm guide to Medicaid estate recovery before paying or signing anything.

Three things most families miss.

• Unclaimed property. Free money sitting in state databases — old accounts, uncashed checks, safe-deposit-box contents. Search every state the deceased ever lived in at missingmoney.com. Most families find a few hundred to a few thousand dollars.
• Inherited retirement accounts. Under the SECURE Act, most non-spouse inheritors of an IRA or 401(k) must drain it within 10 years. Getting this wrong triggers a 50% penalty. Talk to a CPA before moving the money.
• Digital accounts. Email, password vaults, photos, social media. Most require a court order to access without a pre-set legacy contact. We have a full guide on this — digital-legacy walkthrough.