Estate Planning, Trusts & Probate

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PROBATE FOR PARALEGALS: Full Walkthrough With Checklists and Documents

Credits Available
Credit Status Total
California MCLE Paralegal Approved 6 Total
Delaware Certified Paralegal Program Approved 6 Total
Florida Registered Paralegal Approved 6 Total
Indiana Paralegal CLE Approved 6 Total
NALA Approved 6 Total
Montana CLE Credit for Paralegals Approved 6 Total
North Carolina Continuing Paralegal Education Pending 6 Total
New Mexico Paralegal Division, State Bar of Approved 6 Total
Ohio Certified Paralegals Approved 6 Total
NFPA Approved 6 Total
Texas State Bar of Paralegal Division Approved 6 Total
Washington Paralegal Association Approved 6 Total
Live Online
6 hours
Ricardo Aponte-Parsi
Louis Silverman
Brittany Kaczmarczyk
Jennifer Grant
J. Christian Manalli
With Ricardo Aponte-Parsi from Office of the General Counsel at Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/GCN) + 4 others

Tue, Dec 15, 00:00 AM – 00:00 PM

Product ID 102773

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Course Includes
$319

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Overview

From First Filing to Final Discharge: Master Every Step, Every Document

Probate paralegals carry a heavy load. Preparing court filings, tracking down assets, managing creditor deadlines, organizing accountings, and fielding beneficiary calls - all at the same time, often across multiple open matters. Without a clear stage-by-stage system, it is easy to fall behind, lose track of where a file stands, or inadvertently cross into territory that belongs to the attorney.

This 6-hour program walks you through the entire probate process from your perspective as the paralegal doing the work. You will get step-by-step guidance for each task you own, from completing the initial intake checklist to assembling the final court submission package. Every stage comes with practical checklists and model documents you can put to use immediately. Register today!

  • Complete an estate asset inventory accurately using a proven categorization framework.
  • Assemble and track court filing packets: petitions, inventories, accountings, and more.
  • Log and manage creditor claims from receipt through resolution without missing a deadline.
  • Organize the four core document packages every probate file requires.
  • Write professional beneficiary updates that reduce phone calls and keep communication on track.
  • Set up a file management system that stays organized from intake through final discharge.
  • Stay clearly on the right side of the ethics line: every task, every interaction.

Abbreviated Agenda

  1. The Paralegal's Role in Probate: A Quick-Start Orientation
  2. Tracking Down and Inventorying Estate Assets
  3. Opening the Estate: Filing Prep and Notice Requirements
  4. Core Probate Documents: Preparing, Assembling, and Organizing the File
  5. Your Day-to-Day Estate Management Responsibilities
  6. Closing It Out: Distribution, Final Accounting, and Discharge
  7. Your Probate Toolkit: File Systems, Deadlines, and Practice Efficiency
  8. Ethics in Probate: Protecting Yourself, Your Attorney, and the Estate

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Product ID 102773

Credit Details

Credits Available
Credit Status Total
California MCLE Paralegal Approved 6 Total
Delaware Certified Paralegal Program Approved 6 Total
Florida Registered Paralegal Approved 6 Total
Indiana Paralegal CLE Approved 6 Total
NALA Approved 6 Total
Montana CLE Credit for Paralegals Approved 6 Total
North Carolina Continuing Paralegal Education Pending 6 Total
New Mexico Paralegal Division, State Bar of Approved 6 Total
Ohio Certified Paralegals Approved 6 Total
NFPA Approved 6 Total
Texas State Bar of Paralegal Division Approved 6 Total
Washington Paralegal Association Approved 6 Total
Select Jurisdiction
Paralegal
Other

Agenda

All times are shown in
  1. The Paralegal's Role in Probate: A Quick-Start Orientation

    1. Probate Basics and Forms of Estate Administration
    2. Your Scope of Duties From Intake to Final Discharge
    3. Your Role vs. the Attorney's Role: Drawing the Line From Day One
    4. Initial Client Intake and Pre-Filing Checklist
  2. Tracking Down and Inventorying Estate Assets

    1. Probate vs. Non-Probate Assets: The Paralegal's Sorting Checklist
    2. How to Locate Assets: Bank Accounts, Real Property, Business Interests, Cryptocurrency, and More
    3. Contacting Financial Institutions and Third Parties: Requests, Follow-Up, and Documentation
    4. Completing the Estate Asset Inventory Form Step by Step
  3. Opening the Estate: Filing Prep and Notice Requirements

    1. Confirming Jurisdiction and Venue Before You File
    2. Assembling and Submitting the Petition for Probate
    3. Ordering and Tracking Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration
    4. Preparing and Publishing the Notice to Creditors: Deadlines, Affidavits, and Proof of Publication
  4. Core Probate Documents: Preparing, Assembling, and Organizing the File

    1. What Goes in a Probate File: Wills, Codicils, and Intestate Succession Documents
    2. Preparing Affidavits for Probate: What You Need and How to Assemble Them
    3. Completing Inventory and Appraisement Forms
    4. Organizing Interim and Final Accountings for Attorney Review
    5. Preparing Orders, Decrees, and Court Submission Packets
  5. Your Day-to-Day Estate Management Responsibilities

    1. Logging and Tracking Creditor Claims: Step-by-Step Workflow
    2. Estate Tax Tasks for Paralegals: What to Gather, Prepare, and Flag
    3. Income Tax Tasks During Administration
    4. Writing Beneficiary Status Updates: Templates, Tone, and What Not to Say
    5. Working With Executors/Personal Representatives
  6. Closing It Out: Distribution, Final Accounting, and Discharge

    1. Preparing Distribution Schedules and Deeds of Distribution
    2. Collecting Receipts, Releases, and Waivers of Accounting
    3. Assembling the Final Accounting Package for Attorney Review and Court Submission
    4. Preparing the Petition for Final Distribution and Discharge
  7. Your Probate Toolkit: File Systems, Deadlines, and Practice Efficiency

    1. Setting Up and Maintaining the Probate File From Day One
    2. Managing Court Deadlines and Maintaining a Probate Calendar
    3. Technology Tools That Make Probate Work More Manageable
    4. The Most Common Paralegal Errors in Probate and How to Prevent Them
  8. Ethics in Probate: Protecting Yourself, Your Attorney, and the Estate

    1. Unauthorized Practice of Law: Exactly Where the Line Is in Probate Tasks
    2. The Supervised Work Product Rule: What You Can Prepare and What Requires Attorney Sign-Off
    3. Confidentiality in Estate Matters: What to Say (and Not Say) to Beneficiaries and Third Parties
    4. Conflicts of Interest: How to Spot Them Before They Become Problems
    5. NALA Code of Ethics: Applying the Rules to Real Probate Scenarios

Who Should Attend

This basic-level program is designed for paralegals. Legal assistants, law office administrators, and other legal support professionals working in estate planning or probate practices will also benefit.

Speakers

Ricardo Aponte-Parsi
Ricardo
Aponte-Parsi
Office of the General Counsel at Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/GCN)
Louis A Silverman
Louis A.
Silverman
Praesidium Law, PLLC
Brittany Kaczmarczyk
Brittany
Kaczmarczyk
Reminger Co., LPA
Jennifer Grant
Jennifer
Grant
Law Offices of Jennifer Grant
J. Christian Manalli
J. Christian
Manalli
Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer LLC
Speaker bio
Ricardo Aponte-Parsi

Ricardo Aponte-Parsi

Office of the General Counsel at Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/GCN)
Ricardo Aponte-Parsi

is a real estate and corporate counsel with a 22+ year track record of assessing risk, managing litigation, and building compliance systems to protect organizational interests. He is a trusted business partner and problem solver, dedicated to delivering exceptional results that advance business objectives through preventive counseling, strategic risk management, and shrewd advocacy. Mr. Aponte-Parsi is a team leader and project manager who builds relationships, leads change, and communicates effectively with private and public stakeholders. He earned his bachelor's degree from Syracuse University, with a major in international relations, and his J.D. degree from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law. In May 2014, Mr. Aponte-Parsi completed his Master of Laws degree from Northwestern University School of Law and a Certificate in Business Administration from IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. In 2018, he completed a second LL.M. degree at Georgetown University Law School in securities and financial regulation. In 2022, Mr. Aponte-Parsi completed a certification in privacy law from Seton Hall University School of Law. He was president of the Board of the Puerto Rico Education Council, the licensing agency for the Commonwealth, and is currently the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the San Juan Community College. Since November of 2024, Mr. Aponte-Parsi has worked as an associate general counsel at the Office of the General Counsel of the Air Force (SAF/GCN) at Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio, Texas. SAF/GCN provides legal and policy advice to members of the Secretariat, air staff, and space staff on virtually all matters relating to the department's 180 installations, nearly 10 million acres of real estate, base realignment, and closure; programs for environmental planning, compliance, and restoration and natural and cultural resources management; and programs for safety and occupational health.

Speaker bio
Louis A Silverman

Louis A. Silverman

Praesidium Law, PLLC
Louis Silverman

is an attorney at Praesidium Law, PLLC, where he practices in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, probate law, and related matters. Mr. Silverman is board-certified in estate and trust law by the State Bar of Arizona. His practice emphasizes estate planning, which includes wills and trusts and other estate planning devices; and trust administration and probate, which includes death probate, guardianship, and conservatorship. Mr. Silverman has served as judge pro tem on the Maricopa County Superior Court. He is a member of WealthCounsel, and is a past member of the Elder Law, Mental Health and Special Needs Planning Section of the State Bar of Arizona. Mr. Silverman is a board member emeritus of the Sonoran University of Health Sciences, past president of the Board of Directors of Tempe Leadership and past president of Tempe Community Action Agency. He earned his B.S. degree in business from Arizona State University and his J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston. Mr. Silverman is admitted to practice in the state courts of Arizona and Texas, U.S. District Court for Arizona and Western District of Texas.

Speaker bio
Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Brittany Kaczmarczyk

Reminger Co., LPA
Brittany Kaczmarczyk

is an associate in Reminger Co., LPA's Cleveland and Akron offices. She focuses her legal practice in estates, trusts, probate litigation, and guardianship. Ms. Kaczmarczyk represents clients in the pursuit and defense of cases involve trust and will contests, power of attorney abuse, declaratory judgments to invalidate financial or real estate transactions, fiduciary liability, and breach of trust. She counsels clients through all phases of the probate litigation process, including factual investigation, pleadings, discovery, motion practice, mediation, evidentiary hearings, and trial. In addition to litigation, Ms. Kaczmarczyk handles estate and trust administration as well as assists clients in applying for as well as personally serving as guardian. She has reviewed hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, researched complex issues of law, developed case strategies, and successfully obtained results for her clients through motion practice, mediation, and trial. Ms. Kaczmarczyk regularly presents on issues involving probate litigation. She graduated, cum laude, from the Cleveland State College of Law where she served as an associate on the Cleveland State Law Review and served as president of Cleveland State's law school chapter of Phi Alpha Delta law fraternity. Ms. Kaczmarczyk remains active in the community through her continued involvement in Ladder Down, Cleveland as well as several bar associations.

Speaker bio
Jennifer Grant

Jennifer Grant

Law Offices of Jennifer Grant
Jennifer Grant

is the owner and attorney of Law Offices of Jennifer Grant. She is a seasoned attorney with over two decades of litigation experience. After graduating from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2001, Ms. Grant earned her LL.M. degree in estate planning from the prestigious Heckerling Institute at the University of Miami in 2021. She began her career in commercial litigation and intellectual property law at large firms before discovering her passion for trust, estate, and guardianship litigation in 2006. In 2022, Ms. Grant expanded her practice to include family law, applying her extensive trial experience to help clients navigate highly charged and personal matters with clarity and compassion. She now specializes in guiding individuals and families through complex disputes, whether involving fiduciary removal and defense, undue influence, elder exploitation, elective share issues, breach of fiduciary duty claims, guardianship contests, administration disputes, shareholder conflicts, or family law matters such as divorce, custody, and support. Since establishing her own practice in 2009, Ms. Grant has combined her legal expertise with a client-centered approach, delivering cost-effective solutions while maintaining open, frequent communication to ensure her clients feel supported and informed in real time. She is especially passionate about helping clients under emotional strain make sound decisions for their families, financial well-being, and peace of mind. Beyond her legal career, Ms. Grant actively supports community causes including feeding the homeless, assisting women in distress, and advocating for animal welfare. Her dedication to both her clients and her community reflects her unwavering commitment to helping others through even the most challenging circumstances with skill, integrity, and compassion.

Speaker bio
J. Christian Manalli

J. Christian Manalli

Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer LLC
J. Christian Manalli

is a partner in the Chicago office of Schoenberg Finkel Beederman Bell Glazer LLC, and joins the firm's estate planning and probate administration, tax, not for profit organizations, and corporate transactions and counseling practice groups. Mr. Manalli focuses on estate planning, tax planning, and tax preparation for individuals, trusts, tax exempt organizations and business entities, asset protection planning, probate and trust administration, contested trust and estate litigation, guardianships, elder law, the representation of parties in the sale or purchase of a business, corporate and business law, and forming corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships and organizations exempt from tax under IRC section 501(c)3. He earned his B.S. degree from Purdue University and his J.D. degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Mr. Manalli is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association.

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