An unsupervised probate is a court probate that is not supervised by the court. An interested party can always request court supervision in any probate, however.
The most common use of an unsupervised probate is in cases where a decedent’s primary asset is his/her home. Since the home is in the decedent’s name only, the estate needs to be probated. The probate may usually be an unsupervised probate, however. This is much quicker and less costly than a supervised probate.
In a typical unsupervised probate, a party files a probate petition with the court. The court will set a hearing date within 30-45 days after the petition is filed. Interested parties will be given notice of the hearing. If interested parties do not object to the appointment of the proposed personal representative, and/or the court appoints the proposed personal representative as personal representative of the estate, then the personal representative may distribute or sell the real estate immediately after the hearing date.
Actually, the court does not hold a hearing unless someone objects to the probate or appointment of personal representative. The court stopped holding hearings to save time and money unless there is an objection because there are rarely objections to probate petitions.
The appointment of a personal representative in an unsupervised probate is sufficient to transfer title. Unlike a supervised probate, the only other requirement for the personal representative is that he/she file a single page statement with the court indicating that work probating the estate is completed. It is not necessary in an unsupervised probate to complete or file a final account providing the court with detailed information about the assets of the estate, or income and expenses of the estate.