send to the probate registry within eight days of receiving the warning. Scotland The equivalent to probate in Scotland is confirmation, although there are considerable differences between the two systems because of the separate Scottish legal system. Appointment as an executor does not in itself grant authority to ingather and distribute the estate of the deceased; the executor(s) must make an application to the sheriff court for a grant of confirmation. This is a court order authorising them to "uplift, receive, administer and dispose of the estate and to act in the office of executor". A grant of confirmation gives the executor(s) authority to uplift money or other property belonging to a deceased person (e.g. from a bank), and to administer and distribute it according to either the deceased's will or the law on intestacy. United States Most estates in the United States include property that is subject to probate proceedings. If the property of an estate is not automatically devised to a surviving spouse or heir through principles of joint ownership or survivorship, or otherwise by operation of law, and was not transferred to a trust during the decedent's lifetime, it is generally necessary to "probate the estate", whether or not the decedent had a valid will. For example, life insurance and retirement accounts with properly completed beneficiary designations should avoid probate, as will most bank accounts titled jointly or made payable on death. Some states have procedures that allow for the transfer of assets from small estates through affidavit or through a simplified probate process. For example, California has a "Small Estate Summary Procedure" to allow the summary transfer of a decedent's asset without a formal Probate proceeding. The dollar limit by which the Small Estate procedure can be effectuated is $150,000. For estates that do not qualify for simplified proceedings, a court having jurisdiction of the decedent's estate (a probate court) supervises the probate process to ensure administration and disposition of the decedent's property is conducted in accord with the law of that jurisdiction, and in a manner consistent with decedent's intent as manifested in his will. Distribution of certain estate assets may require selling assets, including real estate. Avoiding probate Some of the decedent's property may never enter probate because it passes to another person contractually, such as the death proceeds of an insurance policy insuring the decedent or bank or retirement account that names a