What is probate? | Freilich Law | Michael Freilich | freilichlaw.com | (410) 321-0040
When you die, you have two types of assets, probate assets and non-probate assets. For example, if you own a bank account with your wife and it all goes to her when you die, it’s a non-probate asset. Suppose you have the bank account in your own name, and you want it to go to your wife, but there’s nothing in the account that says it goes to your wife. Then, you would go and file a probate proceeding in the probate court where you live, and they would decide how it gets to your wife. It would go by your will, and if it wasn’t by your will, it would go by the general laws of inheritance.