By Cordell McDonald
When sitting across from someone dealing with an estate, I often hear some version of “Why is this taking so long?” “Why does the court have to approve everything?” “Why does it cost so much?”
The answer… That’s Probate!
Probate is not inherently bad. It serves a purpose. It’s how the court makes sure assets go where they are supposed to and debts get paid. But what most people don’t know about probate until they’re in it;
It’s slow, It’s public, and It can be more expensive than you’d think.
Let me give a real world example; A family loses a parent. The only major asset is the house. No protection deed. No trust. Nothing set up to bypass probate.
Now instead of simply transferring the house, the family now has to:
- Open a probate case
- Appoint a Personal Representative
- Publish Notice to Creditors
- Wait out the statutory claim period
- Potentially seek court approval just to list the home for sale
What could’ve been handled in weeks will turn into months – or longer!
That’s why people talk about avoiding probate. Avoiding probate doesn’t mean ignoring the responsibility or taking a risk. It means making a plan ahead of time so assets can pass directly. Some ways people can do that are:
- Protection Deeds
- Beneficiary Designations
- Trusts
When done correctly these tools speed up the process, lower administration cost, reduce court involvement, and keep things private.
This isn’t something just for wealthy families to do, It’s something all families should do before it’s too late. If you’re thinking “I’ll deal with that later” you’re not alone, most people do. But making a plan now can save your family significant stress, time, and cost down the road.
Don’t think of this as the Cost of avoiding probate but as an investment in lives of the people you leave behind.
If you’d like to avoid delays, court costs, and confusion for the people you love, let’s talk now. Schedule a quick estate-planning consultation and we’ll walk through simple options—like protection deeds, beneficiary designations, or a trust—to help keep your plan private and your family out of probate.
