Probate Who?
You’ve heard about probate, but do you actually know what it is? Do you hear positive or negative things about probate? Who goes through probate?
Probate is the legal procedure that occurs when someone dies affecting their assets. The probate court evaluates and distributes these assets.
The first step in probate is to locate a Last Will. It defines how the decedent wants to distribute their assets. These wishes should be upheld through the probate court so long as there are no discrepancies in the Last Will or along this process.
If the decedent died without a Last Will, then they died “intestate.” Distribution of assets under the intestate succession laws vary in each state.
Regardless if the decedent had a Last Will or not, their estate will go through the lengthy, expensive, and stressful probate process.
Avoiding Probate
Avoiding Probate is not as difficult as one may expect. Probate is the legal procedure of evaluating and distributing assets owned by an individual. This means that anything owned by a person will undergo probate.
Avoid Probate by removing ownership from someone by moving into a Trust. A Trust is a separate legal and taxable entity, which can also own assets. The assets held by a Trust are not owned by any person, thus, the assets in a Trust will avoid probate.
Wondering how you can get access to your assets once they have been transferred into a Trust? Of the many advantages associated with creating a Trust, you will appoint a Trustee to manage the Trust. Yes, you can be your own Trustee!
By appointing yourself, or someone else who you trust to be Trustee of your Trust, you can take control of your assets while no longer owning the assets. Thus, you will avoid probate at the time of your death.
Getting Started
Now that you know what probate is, and how to avoid it, you may be wondering how you can get started with avoiding it? That’s where we come in!
Our goal is to help everyone to avoid probate and establish a secure future. Probate don’t discriminate, whatever level of wealth or number of family members, it will capture as many estates as possible.
You have worked hard your entire life to accumulate assets and build the life you wanted for yourself and your loved ones. Don’t let not planning ahead collapse all that you’ve worked for.
To learn more about avoiding probate, please schedule a consultation with our firm so you can enjoy the advantages of a Trust!