The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2024

each is entitled. 71 The order should also authorize the payment of any allowed claims that have not already been paid, attorney fees and costs, and PR commission, if any. If requested in the petition, the court may order the PR to be discharged upon such final distri butions being made. However, if the PR has several duties left to be performed, it may often be better to file a petition for discharge separately, once all distributions and other duties have been com pleted, and report to the court that such activities have been finished and ask to be discharged. 72 The PR should obtain receipts and releases from the heirs, devisees and legatees showing that the PR has delivered all the money or property to each beneficiary as ordered by the court. If real property is dis tributed by the estate, a certified copy of the final decree, providing the legal description and its distri bution, must be recorded with the appropriate county clerk’s office(s). As stated at the outset, the foregoing is only a basic frame work of the filings in a probate proceeding; therefore, it does not cover every aspect of probate or the potential issues that could arise. The Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct require an attorney to provide competent representation, which “requires the legal knowledge, skill, thorough ness, and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.” 73 Thus, before handling a probate matter, the practitioner should become familiar with the probate procedures set forth in Title 58 of the Oklahoma Statutes and the legal requirements of a will and intestate succession found in Title CONCLUSION

84. Practitioners new to this area of practice may also benefit from reviewing pleadings in probate cases available on OSCN that have been filed by attorneys in their area whose practices are known to be heavily focused in probate matters. The OBA Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Section is another useful resource that requires only a mini mal annual membership fee. A lot can be learned, basics and beyond, by looking at what others have already done and asking questions of more experienced practitioners.

14. Id. §§26, 34, 128(B). 15. Id. §33. 16. Id. §§25, 128(C) . 17. Id. §§28, 130. 18. The first four facts establish jurisdiction and venue. See id. §§5, 6, 7, 23, and 127. 19. Id. §240; S ee also 84 O.S. §213(B). 20. 58 O.S. §§101, 102, 122, 126. 21. Id. §171. 22. See id. §133. 23. 58 O.S. §30; 84 O.S. § 55(7). 26. 84 O.S. §54. Proving a holographic may require evidence of the decedent’s handwriting by comparison to acknowledged writings of the same person, by testimony of someone familiar with the decedent’s handwriting or by testimony of a handwriting expert. See Estate of Wilder , 1976 OK 113, 554 P.2d 788; 58 O.S §31. 27. 58 O.S. §161. 28. Id. §162. 29. Id. 24. 84 O.S. §55 . 25. 58 O.S. §30.

30. Id. §101. 31. Id. §103. 32. Id. §§110, 111, 121. 33. Id. §161. 36. Id. §289. 37. Id. §331. 38. Id. 39. Id. §§331, 331.2. 40. Id. §331.1. 41. Id. 42. Id. §332. 43. Id. §331.1. 44. Id. 45. Id. §32. 46. Id. §§331, 332. 47. Id. §334. 48. Id. §337(A). 34. Id. §281(A). 35. Id. §281(B).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sheila Southard is an associate attorney at Braly, Braly, Speed & Morris PLLC in Ada. She is a 2007 graduate of the OU

College of Law, where she served as the editor-in-chief of the American Indian Law Review . Ms. Southard is currently a member of the Oklahoma Bar Journal Board of Editors. ENDNOTES 1. The general term “personal representative” used in this article encompasses the more specific terms of “executor” (the legal representative of the estate of a testate decedent) and “administrator” (the legal representative of the estate of an intestate decedent). See 58 O.S. §11. 2. Id. § § 23, 127. 3. Generally, as defined by Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019), “heir” or “heir at law” refers to someone entitled under the laws of intestacy to receive a share of the estate, “legatee” is a person named in a will to receive personal property, and “devisee” is one named to receive real property. 4. 58 O.S. §240. 5. Id. §240(B). 6. See id. §21. If a third party has possession of the will, the court can order that person to produce the will to the court under penalty of confinement for failure to do so. Id. §24. Special procedures exist for the probate of a lost or destroyed will. See id. §81, et seq . 7. See id. §§23, 127. 8. Id. §25.

49. Id. §338. See also id. §591 (priority of payment of debts) and §594 (expenses to be paid immediately).

50. Id. §337(C). 51. Id. §337(B). 52. Id. §339. 53. Id. §341. 54. See id. §411.

55. Id. §387. 56. Id. §462. 57. Id. §239 (consents of contingent devisees and legatees are not required). 58. Id. §239(A)(1). 59. Id. §239(A)(2). 60. 1 Okla. Prob. Law & Prac. §25.14 (3d ed.); 58 O.S. §632.3. 61. 58 O.S. §§541, 612. 62. Id. §541. 63. See Burk v. City of Oklahoma City , 1979 OK 115, ¶¶20-22, 598 P.2d 659; Fleig v. Landmark Construction Group , 2024 OK 25, ¶¶4-23, 549 P.3d 1208, 1210-12. 64. 58 O.S. §§525, 527; Matter of Estate of Bartlett , 680 P.2d 369, 380-81, 1984 OK 9, ¶29-30. 65. 58 O.S. §553.

66. Id. 67. Id. 68. Id. §§553, 557. 69. Id. §632.3. 70. Id. §557. 71. Id. §632. 72. Id. §691. 73. 5 O.S. §Rule 1.1.

9. Id. §128. 10. Id. §25. 11. Id . §716. 12. Id. 13. Id. §25.

Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.

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THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL