Avoiding Probate
What is commonly called “Probate” is the process whereby the Probate Court accepts the filing of a Petition for the administration of the estate of the deceased person. A Petitioner can file in various ways depending upon the nature of the assets and the value of the assets held by the deceased at the time of death. For a description of the various types of probate for an estate see below:
Reasons why you may want to avoid Probate.
When you transfer assets to your desired beneficiaries outside of the Probate Court process you can save Time, Money, and avoid Court Supervision.
Time: If transfers occur automatically outside of the Probate process, they can occur quickly and efficiently and often with more certainty. The Probate process allows for creditors to have one year to file a claim in Court against the estate of the deceased. In addition, assets that are transferred outside the Probate process can be accessed more quickly by beneficiaries.
Money: The Personal Representative of the estate may have to expend more funds in filing the paperwork with the Probate Court and may also need to hire an attorney to assist in the process.
Court Supervision: If you can plan your transfers so that assets are disbursed or transferred automatically through the operation of law outside of Probate Court ---- you can be assured that your wishes are met, while not subjecting your property to a public court proceeding with potential challenges by others upon your passing.
If you would like a free initial consultation to discuss creating your personalized comprehensive estate plan, please contact the Law Offices of Martin I. Flax, P.C. at flaxlaw@gmail.com.