Learn How to Prepare Your Estate and Avoid Costly Mistakes
Want to avoid probate? Gleaned from his forty-four years as an estate
attorney, Sharp describes the probate process and the many reasons why
it should be your last resort in estate settlement methods in How to
Avoid Probate for Everyone. Living trusts are important, but there are
many alternatives to using a living trust for probate avoidance. These
alternatives are explained step-by-step as Sharp delves into the
details. Examples of such approaches include:
- While state laws vary, most allow for expedited procedures for
low-value estates without having to create a trust.
- There are a dozen different ways of leaving assets to heirs
automatically at death.
- Special types of deeds allow you to keep control of your real estate
during lifetime yet transfer it to heirs automatically at death.
- There are several ways of titling vehicles that allow heirs to get
them without court procedures.
- Beneficiary designations on bank and investment accounts keep them out
of your probate estate.
- Joint ownership of accounts and real estate can solve inheritance
problems.
- Common myths and misconceptions about estates and probate are
debunked.
Trusts are covered in detail, including a section on must-use trust
provisions to cover common complications and showing how a trust can
easily resolve these. Joint and single trusts are examined and issues,
such as how to handle personal property items, are suggested. (For
instance, who gets the piano?) By avoiding probate court-supervised
adult guardianship and conservatorship, families can avoid embarrassing
and time-consuming incompetency hearings in court. Samples of the
described documents are also included to give the reader an idea of what
the paperwork actually looks like. Sharp's matter-of-fact explanations
will prepare any reader to take the necessary steps to prepare their
estate with confidence and avoid probate.
