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Probate is the court-supervised process of settling a person’s estate and distributing their assets after they pass away. This can end up being time-consuming, costly, and stressful for a decedent’s loved ones. Therefore, it’s beneficial to avoid probate whenever possible. Proper estate planning will allow your property to pass directly to your heirs without a long delay or expensive court fees. Here are some of the most effective ways to skip probate proceedings. 

3 Steps You Can Take to Keep Your Estate From Going Through Probate 

1. Create a Living Trust 

One of the most common techniques used in estate planning for staying out of probate court involves creating a living trust. Once a trust agreement has been drafted, you must fund the trust by placing your assets inside it. It will be controlled by a trustee until your death or incapacitation. At this point, the property you’ve already transferred into the trust will be distributed as you intended outside of the probate process. 

2. Make Beneficiary Designations 

estate planningIf you own a life insurance policy or assets in a retirement account, you’re already in an ideal position to avoid probate. The documents associated with these types of accounts are drawn up to include a specific place where you can name designated beneficiaries. This makes it possible for the account funds to bypass probate and be directly distributed to your beneficiaries.  

3. Use Joint Ownership of Property 

Another way to keep property from having to go through probate is with joint ownership. When a property is held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship, the surviving joint owner will automatically take over full ownership upon the death of the other owner. During the estate planning process, you can add a joint owner to many different kinds of property, including the deed for real estate, bank accounts, stock, and vehicle titles. 

 

To determine which method of avoiding probate will work for your situation, consult a knowledgeable estate planning attorney. Offering more than three decades of legal experience, Hawaii Convey on Honolulu will help you explore the different options and put together the most suitable estate plan for your needs. Give them a call today at (808) 792-8777 to schedule an initial consultation, and visit them online for more information on their services.

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