8 Ways to Avoid Probate

By Mary Randolph

Some simple planning can spare families the cost and delay of probate court proceedings after a loved one's death. Probate can drag on for years, and can easily cost thousands of dollars money that would otherwise have gone to survivors.

8 Ways to Avoid Probate offers simple and effective methods for skipping the probate process so that property goes directly to the intended beneficiaries. In plain English, it explains:

setting up payable on death accounts

naming beneficiaries, including children, institutions, and multiple beneficiaries

naming beneficiaries for retirement accounts, vehicles, real estate, and stocks and bonds

streamlined probate procedures for small estates

holding property in joint ownership, and alternatives to joint ownership

using a living trust to avoid probate

making gifts of property and money

This edition provides updates to estate and gift tax laws, updated 50 state tables on simplified probate, and additional information on how to bequeath real estate without probate nearly 20 states now offer a special deed for just this purpose.

• Language: English
• Publisher: NOLO
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781413320152

Mary Randolph

Mary Randolph earned her law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of The Executor's Guide: Settling Your Loved One's Estate or Trust, and 8 Ways to Avoid Probate. Randolph is also a coauthor of the legal manual for Quicken WillMaker Plus. She has been a guest on The Today Show and has been interviewed by many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.