Alabama

Alabama has a Probate Court in each of its 67 counties, presided over by an elected probate
judge. The court issues letters testamentary where there is a will, or letters of
administration where there is not.

Five years, and then the will is dead

This is the Alabama rule to know. Under § 43-8-161 a will is not effective unless it is filed
for probate within five years of the testator's death. Miss it and the will simply cannot be
admitted — the estate is then dealt with as though there had been no will at all, and the
intestacy rules decide who inherits.

Five years sounds generous until a family leaves a house in a deceased parent's name and only
discovers the problem when they try to sell it a decade later. Confirm the current period, but
treat the will as something to be filed promptly, not eventually.

Removal to the circuit court

Either the personal representative or an interested party can have the administration removed
to the circuit court, which is common where the estate is complicated or contested. Once
removed, it stays there.

What the personal representative must do

Publish and give notice to creditors, file an inventory unless the will excuses it, pay the debts
and the final income tax returns, and file an accounting for the court to settle. A will that
waives bond and inventory — most well-drafted Alabama wills do — makes the administration
considerably lighter.

No state death tax

Alabama levies neither an estate nor an inheritance tax. Only the federal return can arise, and
for nearly all estates it does not.

An Alabama will must be in writing, signed by the testator (or by another in the
testator's presence and at their direction), and signed by at least two witnesses who
witnessed either the signing or the testator's acknowledgement of the will. The testator must be
18 or older and of sound mind.

Alabama does not recognise holographic wills

A handwritten will is fine if two witnesses signed it. Unwitnessed, it is not valid in
Alabama — the execution statute requires two witnesses for every will and the Probate Code
contains no handwriting exception.

This matters at the state line. Tennessee and Mississippi both accept holographic wills. Alabama
does not. A handwritten will brought across the border may no longer do anything, though Alabama
will generally honour a will validly executed where it was made — take advice rather than
assuming either way.

Make it self-proving

Attach a self-proving affidavit signed by the testator and both witnesses before a notary.
Without it, a witness has to be found and produced at probate, which in a five-year-deadline
state is one more thing that can go wrong slowly.

Waive what you can

Expressly waive bond and the requirement to file an inventory, and grant the personal
representative the statutory powers. These clauses are the difference between a light
administration and a heavily supervised one.

Also

• Name an alternate personal representative.
• Tell someone where the original is, and file it promptly after death — the five-year limit
  under § 43-8-161 is unforgiving.
• A surviving spouse has an elective share and statutory allowances whatever the will says.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to Alabama.

Yes, and Alabama caps it in two halves.

The statutory ceiling

Under Alabama Code § 43-2-848 compensation may not exceed:

• 2.5% of the property received and under the personal representative's control, and
• 2.5% of the disbursements made.

Within that ceiling the court allows what it considers reasonable, weighing the difficulty of
the administration, the skill and expertise required, the local custom for comparable services,
the amounts involved, and the results obtained. Confirm the current figures against the statute.

It is a ceiling, not a rate

Two and a half per cent on each side is the maximum, not an entitlement. A straightforward estate
settled in months will not attract the full amount; one that ran for three years with a business
to wind up may, and the court can allow more for genuinely extraordinary services on proof.

How it gets approved

Compensation is claimed on the accounting filed with the Probate Court and allowed by the
judge, or agreed in writing by all the beneficiaries. There is no route to paying yourself first
and explaining later — the accounting shows it.

If the will fixes the figure

A will provision governs where the personal representative accepts the appointment on those
terms. A legacy to the representative may be intended in place of a fee — read the wording before
assuming both are available.

Tax

Compensation is taxable income; an inheritance is not. Since Alabama has no estate or
inheritance tax for the fee to be deducted against, a family representative who is also a
beneficiary usually gains nothing by taking one. Worth an accountant's view first.

An Alabama personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable expenses
of administration, separately from the statutory commission. They appear on the accounting the
Probate Court settles, so document as you go.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• Probate Court filing fees, certified letters testamentary, certified death certificates, and
  publication of the notice to creditors.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041.
• Appraisals of real property, farmland, timberland, vehicles, firearms and collections.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance, property tax, utilities, security,
  maintenance, lawn care and pest control — termite bonds in particular are worth keeping
  current on an empty house here.
• Storm damage mitigation on estate property: tarping a roof, tree removal, and boarding up
  ahead of a hurricane on the Gulf coast.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate.
• Bond premiums where the will did not waive bond.

Normally not claimable

• The representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending — that is what the
  commission covers.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run every payment through it. Alabama's commission is
calculated on receipts and disbursements, so a clean bank record does double duty — it
evidences the expenses and it is the arithmetic your own fee is built from.

Most Alabama estates are administered by a family member working with the county Probate Court. A
bank trust department or an attorney serving as personal representative earns its cost in
particular cases.

Consider a professional when

• The five-year deadline has been missed or is close, or the family has discovered an
  unprobated will years after a death. Sorting out title to land held in a deceased person's name
  is specialist work and it does not get easier with time.
• Heirs' property is involved — land held undivided by many descendants without clear title.
  This is a serious and well-documented problem in Alabama, and doing nothing risks a forced
  partition sale of family land.
• The estate holds timberland, farmland, or an operating business. Timber valuation is its own
  discipline.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely — which will
  usually see the administration removed to the circuit court.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years and the Probate Court,
  which also handles guardianships, will supervise closely.
• The named representative lives out of state and cannot readily attend a county Probate
  Court.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage, referenced to the § 43-2-848 ceiling,
usually with a minimum annual fee. Attorneys generally bill hourly. Ask for either in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, waive bond and inventory in the will, and let them retain a probate
attorney at the estate's expense to handle the notice, the accounting and the settlement.

A named representative who does not want the job can decline before letters issue.