Probate and Estate Administration in Hampden County

Someone has died, there is a will in a drawer or there is not, and the bank will not talk to you. That is where a probate case begins for most families in Hampden County. Probate is the court process that gives a will legal force, appoints the person who will settle the estate, and clears title so the house, the accounts and everything else can pass to the people entitled to them. Dunn & Phillips has handled estates from its Springfield office since 1988. Haley Daigneault, Senior Paralegal, handles probate and estate planning matters here under attorney supervision, and the first conversation is free.

When probate is required

Massachusetts probate runs under the Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code. A case is required when the person who died held property in their own name alone that someone needs the authority to collect, sell or transfer: a bank account with no joint owner or named beneficiary, a house titled to the decedent alone, a car, a brokerage account, a claim the estate has against someone else.

A will does not change that. A will is the instructions, not the exit. It tells the Probate and Family Court who inherits and who should serve as personal representative, the Massachusetts term for the executor, but the authority to act comes from the court's appointment, not from the document. Until the court issues it, the person named in the will generally cannot sell property, access accounts or pay debts on the estate's behalf.

What passes outside probate is decided by how the property was titled, not by the will. A house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship passes to the surviving owner. Life insurance and retirement accounts pass to the named beneficiary. Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts pass to the named person. Assets held in a living trust pass under the trust. Two neighbors on the same street can have very different experiences: one family updated beneficiary forms and titles and barely saw the courthouse, the other left everything in a sole name and opened a full case.

Informal and formal probate

The Uniform Probate Code gives Hampden County estates two tracks.

Informal probate is the lighter one. A magistrate reviews the petition without a hearing and, when the will is clear or there is no will, no one objects and the heirs are known, issues the appointment. Most estates in this county that need a case can use it, and it is the track we file first whenever the facts allow.

Formal probate puts the case before a judge. It is required when the will is unclear or its validity is contested, when an heir cannot be located, when a prior will exists, or when a party wants the court to supervise the administration. It is slower and more expensive, and sometimes it is the only way through. An estate that starts informally can be moved to the formal track if a dispute surfaces later.

Voluntary administration is a third, short-form procedure for a small estate with no real estate and personal property under a dollar ceiling the statute sets. It is a filing rather than a case. Whether an estate qualifies depends on the assets and how they are titled; bring us the list and we will tell you.

The Hampden Probate and Family Court

Hampden County estates are filed with the Hampden Probate and Family Court at 50 State Street in Springfield, a short drive from our Belmont Avenue office. The court handles the appointment, the inventory and accounts where they are required, and any dispute among the heirs. For most of our clients the case is in Hampden County; a decedent who lived in Northampton or Amherst files in Hampshire County instead, and we handle both.

How long it takes

Two clocks matter. The first is the appointment. When the papers are complete and the estate qualifies for the informal track, the appointment can issue within weeks of filing, and that is what lets the personal representative open an estate account, secure the house and deal with the bank.

The second is closing the estate, and the floor on that is set by the creditor period: creditors have one year from the date of death to present claims, and a personal representative who distributes before that year runs takes on personal risk for any claim that arrives afterward. Many straightforward estates close in about a year. A will contest, a missing heir, a house that has to be sold, or an estate tax return extends that, sometimes by a great deal.

There is also an outer limit on starting. A probate case generally has to be opened within three years of death; after that only a limited form of proceeding is available, which is one reason a will found in a drawer years later causes problems. If a relative died some time ago and the house is still in their name, call sooner rather than later.

What the personal representative has to do

Being named is an honor and a real responsibility. Once appointed, the personal representative must identify and protect the assets, from bank accounts and investments to real estate and personal property; notify creditors and pay valid debts, including final bills and taxes, in the order the law requires; file the decedent's final income tax return and, where applicable, estate tax returns; keep careful records of everything received and paid out; and distribute what remains to the beneficiaries and provide an accounting.

The duties that catch people off guard are the ones that create personal liability: paying the wrong people first, distributing before debts and taxes are settled, or failing to keep records. Our post on what an executor actually does walks through the role, and the free Massachusetts Executor's Probate Checklist lays out every filing and deadline stage by stage in one PDF. Most personal representatives are not lawyers or accountants and are not expected to be; working with counsel through the case keeps the filings correct and on schedule and lets you focus on your family.

What it costs

That depends on the track the estate takes and how much work it needs, and we would rather quote your estate than a typical one. Contact us with the will, a list of the accounts and how each is titled, and the deed to any real estate. We will tell you which path fits, what the process looks like and what it will cost, before you spend a filing fee.

Talk to us about an estate

Bring the will, the death certificate if you have it, a list of the accounts and how they are titled, and any deed. We will tell you whether a case is needed, which track it takes and what comes next. The first conversation is free.

Springfield: 185 Belmont Avenue, Springfield, MA 01108 Phone: (413) 787-9955

Last reviewed October 2026.