By 
Many of us have heard about the word probate, and those who have heard about it must know they should avoid it. But the question is, why should we avoid probate? Is there any minimum amount of assets required for probate? What if you have a will? Will it still be necessary to have probate?
The Atlanta accounting firm will let you know every detail regarding estate planning, along with tips to avoid probate.
Estate planning tips for avoiding probate
Probate is a legal process that takes place after someone dies. The legal process takes place in court, including multiple steps, the involvement of attorneys, and court appearances.
In general, proving probate in court involves that the decedent’s will is correct and then identifying and inventorying the property of the decedent that includes both real property like homes and personal property like jewelry and antique collection. After that, the property will be appraised to calculate the estate’s value. Finally, the decedent estate’s remaining property will be distributed according to the will.
How much should the estate have to be worth to go to probate?
One of the most common questions asked is whether their estate is not worth much do they still have to go through probate? Even though there are ways to avoid probate, estate size is not considered one of the ways.
There are two great options for avoiding probate. One is creating a revocable living trust, and another is having a will but using the beneficiary designation on every asset in the person’s estate.
A revocable living trust allows a person to transfer their assets into the trust, with a process known as funding the trust. Once the assets are invested in the trust, they are now beyond the probate process. It is because the trust will be governed by the guidelines and not the will. The process will then become simple and fast.
The second option for avoiding probate is utilizing the beneficiary designations on assets. Assets like retirement accounts, bank accounts, investment accounts, and other personal property can have beneficiary designations. These beneficiary designations are described as transfer-on-death or payable-on-death. They both have the same results, just different names depending on the asset. This beneficiary designation authorizes the beneficiary of the asset to give a death certificate. Depending on the asset type, some follow-up information and the title will be passed to them. In this way, probate can be avoided.
