Editorial Standards
& Review Policy
This document defines the publication requirements, accuracy standards, source criteria, corrections process, and update obligations that govern every piece of content published on ProbateLawCenter.org. These are not aspirational guidelines — they are operating requirements.
Every piece of content published on ProbateLawCenter.org must be accurate for the specific jurisdiction it covers, sourced from primary legal authorities, written to be clearly understood by a non-attorney, and updated whenever the law it describes changes. Content that does not meet all four criteria is not published — or is removed until it does.
Publication Requirements
These are the conditions every piece of content must satisfy before it is published on this site. All six are required. None are optional. Content that fails any single requirement is not published.
Primary Source Verification
Every legal claim, threshold, deadline, or procedural requirement must be verified against a primary source — the actual statute, court rule, or official government publication — before publication. Secondary summaries, legal aggregators, and other websites are not acceptable primary sources for factual legal claims.
State Jurisdiction Specificity
Every guide covering probate procedure, legal thresholds, or executor duties must be specific to the jurisdiction it covers. National averages and generalized guidance are permitted only in explicitly introductory or comparative content — and must be clearly labeled as such. State-specific pages must reflect the actual statutes and court rules for that state.
Full Source Citation
Every statute reference, threshold figure, procedural deadline, and cited statistic must include a citation to its original source. In-text citations or footnotes linking to primary sources are required for all factual legal claims. Content may not state legal facts without attribution.
Plain Language Standard
Legal accuracy that cannot be understood by a non-attorney managing an estate for the first time is not acceptable. Every guide must pass a plain language review — confirming that procedural steps are in logical sequence, legal terms are defined on first use, and the content can be acted upon by the target reader without prior legal training.
Scope Disclosure
Every page must clearly identify what it covers and what it does not. Pages covering general probate procedures must note that individual circumstances vary. Pages covering specific dollar thresholds must note the effective date of those figures. Pages that describe simplified procedures must note their eligibility requirements.
Publication Timestamp
Every published page must display the date the content was originally published and the date it was most recently reviewed for accuracy. These dates are part of the content record — not cosmetic. A page without a current review date is treated as unreviewed and subject to immediate audit before remaining live.
Content Accuracy Standards
Publication requirements define the floor. These accuracy standards define the specific bar for different types of content.
Dollar Thresholds & Filing Fees
Numeric DataProcedural Steps & Timelines
Process ContentHeir Rights & Distribution Rules
Legal RightsStatistics & Data Citations
Third-Party DataSimplified Procedure Eligibility
Qualification CriteriaAvoiding Probate Mechanisms
Planning ContentSource Requirements
Not all sources are equal. These criteria define what counts as an authoritative source for legal content on this site — and what does not.
Accepted Sources
Not Accepted as Primary Sources
Corrections Policy
When errors occur — and in a body of work this size, they will — the speed and transparency of our correction defines our credibility. This is our corrections process, with no exceptions.
Error Identified
Error discovered internally through audits, or reported by a reader through the error reporting process on this page.
Verification
The reported error is verified against primary sources within 24 hours of identification. If verified, correction proceeds immediately.
Correction Made
The content is corrected. A correction note is added to the page indicating what changed and when. The reviewed date is updated.
Reporter Notified
If the error was reported by a reader, they are notified that the correction has been made. All error reports are acknowledged.
Maximum time from error report to primary source verification. Verified errors are corrected immediately — not queued.
Every corrected page carries a correction note. We do not silently edit errors. The correction record is part of the content.
Errors in dollar thresholds, filing deadlines, and eligibility criteria are treated as critical. No correction cycle — immediate fix required.
Update & Currency Policy
Outdated legal information is not neutral — it creates false confidence. These are our obligations for keeping published content current.
What Triggers an Immediate Update
The following changes trigger an immediate content review and update — not a scheduled audit cycle. When any of these occur, affected pages must be updated within 30 days.
- State legislature passes a law changing probate thresholds, procedures, or timelines
- Court fee schedules are revised by a state court system
- Small estate threshold amounts are adjusted for inflation or by statute
- Simplified procedure eligibility criteria change in any covered state
- A federal law change affects estate tax thresholds or federal probate-related processes
- A reader identifies a factual error that is verified against primary sources
Scheduled Review Obligations
In addition to event-triggered updates, all content on this site is subject to scheduled accuracy reviews on the following cycle:
Review Schedule
What We Will Never Do
Credibility is built as much by what an organization refuses to do as by what it does. These are our absolute prohibitions — practices structurally excluded from how this site operates.
Publish state-specific legal content without primary source verification
No dollar threshold, deadline, procedural step, or legal eligibility criterion goes live on a state-specific page without a citation to the current controlling statute or official source.
Silently edit errors without a correction notice
Every factual correction made to published content is noted on that page — including what changed and when. We do not quietly fix errors and pretend the original content never existed.
Present general national guidance as state-specific accuracy
Content that applies nationally will never be formatted or presented in a way that implies it reflects the specific law of a particular state. Jurisdictional scope is always disclosed.
Accept payment to influence editorial content
No law firm, service provider, software company, or advertiser can pay to influence what we publish, how we cover a topic, or what recommendations we make. Commercial relationships are structurally excluded from editorial decisions.
Omit eligibility limitations from simplified procedure content
Content describing small estate procedures, summary administration, or other simplified alternatives to full probate will always disclose all material eligibility criteria — not just the asset threshold.
Leave outdated content live after a known law change
When a state law change affecting content on this site is identified, the affected page is flagged for update within the same review cycle. Pages are not left live with known outdated information while awaiting a scheduled audit.
Claim to provide legal advice
This site provides legal education. It does not provide legal advice. No content on this site is a substitute for consultation with a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. This distinction is maintained rigorously throughout all content.
Publish content without a review timestamp
Every published page displays its original publication date and the date it was most recently reviewed. Pages without current review timestamps are treated as unreviewed and are audited before remaining live.
How to Report an Error
Our readers include estate attorneys, paralegals, financial advisors, and court personnel — in addition to executors and families. When any reader identifies an inaccuracy, we want to know. Here is how to report it and what happens next.
Identify the specific claim
Note the page URL and the specific sentence, figure, or statement you believe is inaccurate. The more specific the report, the faster we can verify and correct it. "The filing fee on the Texas probate page is wrong" is actionable. "Some of your information seems outdated" is not.
Include a source if you have one
If you know the correct information and have a source — particularly the current statute, court fee schedule, or official government page — please include it. This accelerates verification significantly. If you don't have a source, report the error anyway.
Submit via our error reporting form
Use the error report form in the panel to the right. All reports are acknowledged within 24 hours. Verified errors are corrected immediately and you will be notified when the correction is live.
What happens after you report
Your report is verified against primary sources within 24 hours. If the error is confirmed, the page is corrected, a correction note is added, and the review date is updated. You'll receive a confirmation. If we cannot verify the error against primary sources, we'll explain why and what we found.
Found something inaccurate?
Every report is reviewed within 24 hours. Verified errors are corrected immediately. We take every report seriously — our readers' decisions depend on the accuracy of this content.
Scope & Limitations of This Content
Being honest about what our content provides — and what it cannot provide — is itself an accuracy standard. These distinctions are maintained throughout the site.
Explain how probate law works in each state
Our state-specific guides accurately describe the legal framework, procedural requirements, thresholds, and timelines that govern probate in each jurisdiction — sourced from current primary authorities and updated when the law changes.
Constitute legal advice for individual situations
No content on this site is a substitute for legal advice from a licensed estate attorney in your jurisdiction. Individual circumstances, asset types, family dynamics, and contested issues require professional legal analysis that general educational content cannot provide.
Tell you when your situation likely requires an attorney
Our content is designed to help readers understand what they're facing and identify when their situation is complex enough to require professional counsel. We actively flag scenarios — contested estates, multi-state assets, business interests, tax exposure — where general guidance is insufficient.
Replace jurisdiction-specific professional guidance
State probate law varies significantly — and within states, local court rules and practices create additional variation. Our guides provide the legal framework; a local attorney provides the application of that framework to specific facts in a specific court.
Identify all material eligibility criteria for simplified procedures
When covering small estate procedures, summary administration, and other simplified alternatives to full probate, we disclose all eligibility criteria — not just the headline asset threshold. Readers should know if they qualify before they start.
Account for every local court variation within a state
While we cover state-level law in full, local court rules, filing practices, and procedural customs within individual counties or districts may differ from the state-level framework our guides describe. Readers managing an estate should verify local court requirements directly.
Standards This Rigorous
Exist for One Reason.
The families using this site are making decisions with permanent consequences — about estates, assets, and legal obligations. They deserve content they can trust. Everything on ProbateLawCenter.org is built to that standard.