A Well-Designed Estate Plan Can Help You Avoid Probate

Proper estate planning is key to ensuring that your assets are distributed according to your wishes. You have worked hard to earn the property you own and you deserve to choose how that property is allocated after your death. Numerous estate planning tools can help you accomplish your goals and provide for your family’s future. The type of estate planning instruments that you utilize depends on your unique needs and objectives. For many, a key goal is avoiding the probate process.

What is Probate and Why Would I Want to Avoid It?

When a person passes away, the court is typically involved in handling the person’s final affairs. Probate is the court-supervised process during which a person’s last will and testament is validated, the person’s debts are settled, and the remaining assets are released for distribution to beneficiaries. If you have ever lost a loved one, you know how emotionally draining it can be. For many people, the last thing that they want to deal with after losing a relative is a long, drawn-out court proceeding. The probate process can be time-consuming, stressful, and may delay the speed at which heirs receive their inheritance. Consequently, many people carefully design their estate plan to avoid or minimize the role of probate as much as possible.

Estate Planning Options That Avoid Probate

The most popular estate planning tool used to avoid probate is a trust. A living trust is one that you create during your lifetime. Assets are placed in the trust and you maintain control over the assets by acting as the trustee. You assign a successor trustee to control your assets upon your death. The successor trustee is responsible for distributing trust assets according to your wishes. In most cases, assets that belong to a trust are not required to pass through probate.

Another way to transfer an asset to a beneficiary while avoiding probate is to own the asset jointly with that person. For example, many couples own property such as real estate or vehicles in joint tenancy. When one of the owners passes away, the other owner automatically acquires the deceased person’s asset share without going through probate. A payable-on-death designation (POD) allows an individual to claim bank account funds upon your death without going through probate. Transfer-on-death instruments (TODI) may also be used to transfer property to beneficiaries without probate.

Downloadable Estate Planning Guides

Click or tap here to access our free, downloadable estate planning guides, which provide additional information about the probate process.

Call Us Today for Help Creating Your Estate Plan

Probate is the court process of validating and distributing a deceased person’s estate. Certain estate planning instruments allow your surviving loved ones to avoid the probate process and gain access your property immediately upon your death. Living trusts, transfer-on-death instruments, and property in joint tenancy are just some of the estate planning tools you may use to minimize the role of probate. For help creating your estate plan, contact a Naperville estate planning lawyer from the Gierach Law Firm. Call 630-756-1160 for a confidential consultation.

Source:

Illinois State Bar Association

Illinois Probate Act of 1975