Preventing Probate Considerations

Probate Lawyer

Dealing with the loss of someone you love can be one of the most draining experiences anyone will go through. And, having to manage the property of the person who passed away can be just as difficult, if not more. To help prevent your family from spending the energy, time, and money associated with probate, it’s important to get help from a lawyer who is knowledgeable in all things estate planning. 

With proper planning, avoiding probate is possible. Probate can be a long and grueling process that can take several months or years to complete. By having a distinguished lawyer help you and making the right preparations, you can also save on administration costs and spare relatives from the frustrating ordeal of legal proceedings. 

Living Trusts

Writing a living trust can help avoid probate for every asset you own, such as bank accounts, real estate, and vehicles. Your lawyer can walk you through how to properly assign an individual to take over as the trustee upon your passing, and transfer assets to beneficiaries without going through probate court. 

Survivorship and Joint Tenancy

You can avoid probate by owning property with someone else. If the person who passes owned assets that were in joint tenancy with another, or as survivorship community property with a spouse, probate won’t be necessary. Probate may not be needed in order to transfer the property, but it will require completing certain paperwork to show that a property title is held by the surviving owner. 

Accounts with Beneficiaries

Assets or accounts where there is an assigned beneficiary can be helpful to circumvent the interruption of probate court. Transfer-on-death and payable-on-death are both examples of ways that the transfer of assets can be more streamlined and reach grieving beneficiaries faster. 

Contact a probate lawyer for further estate planning help, such as a team member from Kaplan Law Firm.