Legal Articles:
1. Understanding Wills
2. What is an Estate?
3. What is Probate?
4. Understanding Trusts

Wallace Legal News: What is Probate?

*IMPORTANT: These materials are for informational purposes only. They should not be construed as legal advice. This information is not intended to replace the assistance of an attorney in any particular situation. It is not intended to, and does not, create an attorney-client relationship.

What is Probate?

You can live your entire life and never hear the word “probate.” But the instant you die, probate becomes a big deal. Probate is the process of legally passing property from a deceased person to his or her heirs or beneficiaries. Probate courts administer the process.

Probate courts have been a part of our legal heritage for centuries. Every county in every state in the United States has its own probate system. Keeping the property in your estate out of probate court is a big estate planning goal. There is nothing you can do with your will to allow it to bypass probate, but there are ways to keep property from passing through probate.

Techniques that allow you to keep property out of probate include:

• Living trusts
• Life insurance
• Retirement plans
• Joint tenancies
• Designated beneficiaries
• Pay-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts

The gist is, “If you can have the asset automatically pass to someone when you die, then it never hits probate.”

Because probate is not a simple legal process, survivors usually have to call an attorney, as well as an administrator/executor to guide them through the legal maze. The estate pays the administrator, the executor and the lawyer. Probate costs generally run five percent to 10 percent of the gross estate, depending on the size of the estate. The larger the estate, the lower the percentage. Many small estates have been almost entirely consumed by legal fees.

The process of settling an estate when there has been inadequate or no planning can be extremely costly, time-consuming and heartbreaking. The good news is that none of this frustration is necessary -- with proper estate planning, settlement can be easy.

If you'll like to learn more please visit our frequently asked questions section, or read rich's latest newsletter.