When you’ve gone through the effort of making a detailed estate plan, you want to make sure that your loved ones get their share of your assets. Unfortunately, the probate process can force them to wait longer to receive their inheritance. As a probate lawyer, like one from Legal Sweeney can tell you about, obtaining legal assistance to organize your estate plan may allow you to bypass the probate process. Depending on what your plan entails, it may not be necessary for you to go through probate. Here are some ways you can avoid it so that your assets can be distributed faster. 

Disadvantages of Probate

Probate is the court-supervised process in which your assets are formally distributed to your beneficiaries. During this time your will is validated by the court. Many people try to avoid probate because it is often a slow, complex and inconvenient process. It might take much longer for your loved ones to access their assets. 

 

Here are some of the most common ways that you can have greater control of your assets and avoid going through the probate process. 

Set Up A Living Trust 

You may be able to skip probate if you have a living trust. When you have a living trust, you can decide which assets to place in it while you are alive. Those assets can then be distributed to your beneficiaries after your death.

Have a Small Estate

If you have a small estate, you might be able to skip probate. You may also be able to make the process go by faster.  Find out if your estate qualifies by talking to a probate lawyer. 

Downsize Your Assets

A larger estate may be more complex to manage, so larger estate often require probate. Selling your assets while you are alive is a popular way to avoid going through probate because you have less assets to distribute. 

Jointly Own Property 

Owning property together with another person may allow you to avoid probate. When you have joint property, it is much easier to switch assets from under your name to another person, such as your spouse. Consider having joint ownership if you want to avoid probate. 

 

Having to go through probate can be tricky, but it is possible to skip it. The probate process varies from state to state, so find out how probate laws apply to your estate. Talk to a seasoned probate lawyer to learn about ways you can avoid the hassles of probate.