“Does a Will Avoid Probate?” Answered!

Video

Hi, it’s Andy Stautz with Stautz Law. Today I’m back to answer another common estate planning question and that is: does a will avoid probate?

So a client comes to me and says “I’ve got a will. Does that mean my heirs, my beneficiaries, don’t need to go to court, don’t need to do probate with all of the expenses and public filings and legal fees?”  

Unfortunately, the answer is no. A will does not avoid probate.  

Probate is the court supervised process of carrying out a will – of giving a will effect. So if you make a will you are basically telling the probate court how to do things. So as we discussed earlier, in “Do I Need a Will?” one of my other videos, you don’t need a will.  

A will is a step up over no plan at all. But it doesn’t accomplish probate avoidance, which is many people’s goal. If you want to avoid probate, you need some other plan more than just a will.  

A common one would be a revocable trust. I love those because they’re just . . . They’re private and they’re very powerful. You can give any instructions you want in a trust. Umm. And have it administered, you know, entirely according to your instructions, without going to court. It can save lots of time. Lots of money. In addition to letting you, you know shape things how you want. 

So usually, in fact, I would contend, hopefully always, the expense of going to a lawyer and having a revocable trust set up or some other probate avoidance plan is always going to pay for itself. Not always. That’s my caveat.  

So a will does not avoid probate. Better than nothing. But if you want probate avoidance, you need other strategies: that can be a trust, that can be beneficiary designations, which we’ve talked about elsewhere.  

If you come and see me for an initial planning meeting, we’ll talk about your situation and we will see what makes sense for your goals. There are a lot of planning techniques out there, and it’s a matter of finding the right plan for you. So book an appointment online or give me a call. Look forward to working with you. Thanks for watching!