4 Ways To Avoid Probate
Probate is a process in which a court verifies the validity of a person's will and determines how to distribute that person's estate. Because probate can be lengthy, expensive, and complicated, many people choose to avoid it by using some form of estate planning. There are four main ways you can do this: creating a living trust, creating a will, transferring property within your family, and giving gifts during your lifetime.
1: Create a Living Trust
A living trust is a legal instrument that allows you to manage your assets during your lifetime, and pass them on to beneficiaries after death.
A living trust can be used in conjunction with other estate planning tools, or it can be used as the primary tool for avoiding probate. In most cases, creating a living trust will help eliminate the need for probate altogether.
2: Create a Will
A will is a legal document that states how you want your assets to be distributed after you die. This can be helpful for avoiding probate.
A will does not avoid probate, but it does help your heirs avoid it. With a will, you can decide who gets what and when—for example, if there are multiple beneficiaries who should receive the same property or if there are several people who should inherit from different accounts or different types of investments. Without a will, courts determine which family members get what based on state law and specific rules.
3: Transfer Property Within Your Family
Transfer property to your heirs during your lifetime. This can be done in a number of ways, such as by gifting assets or making them payable on death (POD).
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If you want to leave property to grandchildren or other descendants, consider transferring ownership during your lifetime and then using a beneficiary deed or trust to provide for their needs after death.
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For children and grandchildren who are minors, there may be certain considerations that you need to take into account before deciding what type of arrangement would work best for them—a trust could solve many problems at once by eliminating the possibility that an irresponsible adult would sell off assets for immediate cash needs. A disabled child may also have special needs that require unique arrangements for financial security and management control over assets; a lawyer’s guidanceis always helpful here as well.
4: Give Gifts During Your Lifetime
If you want to give gifts to your heirs during your lifetime, there are some things that you need to consider.
First, the item must be of tangible value and not simply a promise from you that they will receive something at some point in the future. For example, if you give a painting as a gift during your lifetime and then pass away without having made any changes in your estate plan or without having created an estate plan at all, then the painting will likely be part of probate. Instead of giving an item with such uncertain ownership, it would be better for everyone if you gave cash or transferred money from one of your bank accounts into an account set up by one or more of your children as beneficiaries. This way there is no question about who owns what; and if necessary because probate has been avoided altogether (see section 3), then no one has to go through probate among themselves either!
Conclusion
If you want to avoid probate, there are several ways to do it. The most common method is by creating a living trust. But before taking any action, it’s important to consult with an experienced attorney like our team at Nash Law Firm who knows the law and can help you make decisions that work best for your family members while avoiding costly mistakes in the process.
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