If you are like most people you would like to see your family members receive their inheritances without a lot of hassles, and some vehicles of asset transfer are more efficient than others. With this in mind you would do well to understand some of the pitfalls that go along with probate.

The last will is the most commonly used estate planning document, and a lot of people are not aware of the fact that the will is going to have to be approved by the probate court before it is deemed valid. Because of this disgruntled parties could step forward and contest the will before the court. Clearly, this can take time to sort itself out and the heirs to the estate cannot receive their inheritances while the will is being contested.

And even if there are no challenges probate can be very time-consuming. The executor is going to have to take care of valid creditor claims, and he or she will inventory the assets, get appraisals, liquidate property, and ready everything for distribution.

This is not going to happen overnight. Depending on the precise circumstances it can take anywhere from several months to multiple years for the process of probate to reach its conclusion.

However, you do not have to use a last will. Efficient transfers of assets can be enabled through implementing probate avoidance strategies, and one of these would be the creation of a revocable living trust. To explore these options, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone to arrange for a consultation with a good Nassau County estate planning lawyer.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Probate can be briefly defined as the legal process of the estate administration. Many people are not aware of the fact that your will is not going to be confidentially read among family members after you pass away. When you use a last will to direct the final distribution of your resources the probate court is going to determine its validity and then supervise the administration of the estate.

The actual tasks that must be undertaken will be handled by the executor of the estate. If no executor has been named in the will the court will have to appoint a personal representative to administer the estate.

Depending on the specific situation in question the executor is going be faced with a lot of different legal and financial complexities that require professional guidance to navigate. This is why it is so important to retain the services of an experienced and savvy Nassau County probate lawyer.

Probate attorneys understand the expectations of the court and have a great deal of experience with the typical matters that the executor will have to resolve. These could include payment of final taxes, appraisal of property, property liquidation, satisfying creditors, and various other details.

It is actually a good idea to arrange for the attorney who executed your estate planning documents to act as the probate attorney after you pass away. This is a turnkey solution for the executor and obviously the professional who created the plan in your behalf is going to be the ideal person to guide the estate through the sometimes complicated process of probate.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

People who start to feel as though it is time to take estate planning seriously will generally begin by doing some research on the Internet. Now that we live in the digital age you can indeed absorb a lot of information quickly and efficiently, but of course you have to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. This is certainly the case when you start to look into the topic of estate planning because there is some very good information out there, but there are also some websites that have a self-serving agenda.

There are Internet marketers who would have you believe that estate planning is as easy as filling in the blanks on a generic template document. This is simply not the case because for one thing, there are many different documents that you may want to utilize and the best combination is going to vary depending on the specifics of your estate. When it comes to a last will, most would agree that these do-it-yourself kits are sorely lacking.

Your will must pass through the process of probate, and this is when the probate court will determine its validity. Each state has its own specific guidelines, and these one-size-fits-all documents are not created with any particular jurisdiction in mind. Probate can be time-consuming, and it provides disgruntled parties a forum within which they could challenge your wishes if they so desire. So it is very important to execute an ironclad last will that is impermeable to those who would seek to contest your wishes.

You want your will to be drawn up by someone who has made a career out of working with the probate court in your area on a daily basis, not an anonymous Internet marketer from who-knows-where. Plus, once you pass away the executor of your estate is going to have to negotiate his or her way through the probate process. A probate attorney can provide the necessary guidance, and when he or she was the one who originally constructed the last will the matter is greatly simplified and a smooth transfer of assets will be the result.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Many people know that they want to avoid probate, but they’re neither sure why probate should be avoided or even what probate is. To get you started, “probate” is technically the process by which the court validates a Will. However, the entire process of administering an estate is called probate, as well. If you’re like most people, you want to save money, time, and effort and keep your financial and family affairs private. If this is true, you’ll want to avoid probate.

1. The Revocable Living Trust: Often, the Revocable Living Trust is used to avoid probate. The Trust becomes the center of the estate plan instead of a Will. A Will is still used. It’s called a Pour-Over-Will and its only beneficiary is the Trust. To avoid probate, it is imperative that your Revocable Living Trust be fully funded. This means that all of your assets that were in your individual name are now in the name of your Trust. This is called transferring the title of your assets.

2. Gifts: You avoid probate on any property that you give away during your lifetime. Some folks enjoy seeing their loved ones enjoy their gifts during their lifetime. Be sure to only give away assets that you do not need. If you give away more than $13,000 per year per individual, you must file a gift tax return (the 709). Married couples can split gifts, meaning that they can give away $26,000 per year, jointly. You can gift more than this amount by paying a loved one’s tuition or medical expenses directly to the provider.

3. Joint Property: You can avoid probate by owning property jointly with someone else such as when a husband and wife own a house or bank account together. Joint property ownership is not advised with children in most circumstances. Consult with a qualified estate planning attorney to see if joint ownership in appropriate for you.

4. Contract Property: You can avoid probate by naming a specific individual as the beneficiary of contract assets such as life insurance and retirement accounts. If you name your estate, you guarantee probate. Payment on Death (POD) and Transfer on Death (TOD) accounts also are transferred by contract to the named beneficiary.

Consult with a qualified estate planning attorney if you have any questions about probate and avoiding probate.

The Law Offices of Saul Kobrick, P.C. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.