By Cordell McDonald
A lot of people believe “If I have a will, my family won’t have to go through probate.” – it sounds right but it is simply not true.
A will does not avoid probate!
In fact a will is something that almost has to go through probate to have any effect.
Here’s what a will actually does:
- It says who should receive your property
- It names who’s in charge of distributions
- It gives the court instructions to follow
BUT, the court still has to; validate the will, appoint a personal representative, oversee the entire process, and make sure all debts are paid before the family can touch a single assets
So even with a will, your family will still deal with:
- Court filings
- Waiting Periods
- Legal Costs
- Administrative Work
This doesn’t mean that wills are bad, they are important and needed in some cases, but they are often misunderstood. Think of it like this. A Will is a set of instructions and Probate is the process of carrying out those instructions.
If you want to avoid probate you need more than a will you need a Trust, Transfer-on-Death Arrangements, or Beneficiary Designations. Without those you’ll end up in probate court.
Most people don’t realize a Will won’t keep them out of probate until it is too late. A will is a good starting point, but it is not the solution to the problem people think it is.
Want to make sure your plan does what you think it does? Let’s review your will (and anything else you have in place) and talk through the tools that can actually avoid probate. A short conversation now can save your family months of delay and unnecessary expense later.