If the deceased did not have a Last Will & Testament at the time of their death, then the Estate will be exclusively settled according to state Probate laws.

To begin this process, a family member, close friend, or attorney, acting on behalf of the Estate, contacts a local Probate Court, and submits required court documents, along with a copy of the Death Certificate, to request a hearing.

Typically, courts provide fill-in-the-blank forms to make the application process easy; these forms are also known as a Petition.

They ask the court to administer the Estate and are reviewed before a hearing is called.

Typically, these forms will need to be notarized before submitting to Probate Court; bring personal identification to facilitate this process.

Since each state's Probate laws are different, make sure to review submission requirements, found at the links below, before starting.

Probate can be complicated and overwhelming, so it may be helpful to hire an attorney, though legally this is not required. `