Andrea from San Francisco, CA asks: What exactly happens to an estate after a person passes away?

Matt's Response:

Hi Andrea, that's an interesting question. Most people call the process that takes place after a person passes, estate administration. At a very high level, during the Estate Administration process a person’s assets are collected, inventoried and secured, their expenses and creditors are paid, and the remaining assets are distributed to their beneficiaries in accordance with his or her estate plan. In practice, estate administration is a very detailed oriented process that requires 25+ steps.  A detailed estate administration checklist can be found here.