Does an estate have to go into probate if i am the heir of the estate?

Yes, because you have to give any potential debtors the opportunity to declare their liens against the estate.

If you're the only heir, it still takes anywhere from 6 months to a year depending on the state to finalize everything.

Yes. Otherwise, the testator/testatrix would be considered to have died intestate.

Yes. The paperwork needs to be filed with the court to properly transfer ownership of the property.

If there were any assets, then yes. Although you might be the only heir that you know of, the courts still require a probate to be filed and a public notice published for 3 to 4 months in case anybody wants to contest it or their are any illigitimate heirs for example, that come crawling out of the wood works. I know that's probably not the case but you still have to do it or you can get into some big trouble with the IRS and the government. There are also estate taxes that have to be paid and the estate needs to have an accounting done. You would be suprised but I have seen heirs come out of nowhere when probates have been filed and the person who thought they were the sole heir had to give half of the estate away after DNA testing etc.

A will would protect you against any of those hypothetical heirs but even if there is a will, a probate still has to be filed with the will so that the taxes can be figured out and any creditors can file leins.

Yes. All estates go into probate unless they are left to the heir in trust.

Yes it does but...... if certain trusts are set up this can be avoided and much in taxes can be saved. Problem is that so many people will skimp on paying a lawyer beforehand and then wonder why they owe $50,000 in taxes later.