Probate FAQ
You’ve heard that you should avoid probate -- but why? Here are the basics.
What is probate?
How does the probate process work?
Does all property have to go through probate when a person dies?
Who is responsible for handling probate?
» Should I plan to avoid probate?
Should I plan to avoid probate?
Probate rarely benefits your beneficiaries, and it always costs them money and time. Probate makes sense only if your estate will have complicated problems, such as many debts that can't easily be paid from the property you leave.
Whether to spend your time and effort planning to avoid probate depends on a number of factors, most notably your age, your health, and your wealth. If you're young and in good health, adopting a complex probate-avoidance plan now may mean you'll have to re-do it as your life situation changes. And if you have very little property, you might not want to spend your time planning to avoid probate because your property may qualify for your state's simplified probate procedure.
But if you're in your 50s or older, in ill health, or own a significant amount of property, you'll probably want to do some planning to avoid probate.
If you think you want to avoid probate, read more about it in Mary Randolph's 8 Ways to Avoid Probate (Nolo).
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