If you expect to leave an estate, you should do whatever you can to ensure that it is not subject to the probate law in your state. Why?

Even though you will not be around to experience what happens while your estate is wends its way through the probate process as defined by your jurisdictions probate law, your heirs will. And your executor will have his or her hands full meeting all the requirements established by that probate law. Those duties include gathering and appraising your property, paying off your creditors and filing your estate taxes return; proving that your will is valid, and following your wills instructions in distributing your estate to your named heirs.

Probate laws are designed to make sure that your wishes are honored, at the cost of a time-consuming, expensive process. The US courts are already backlogged, so your estate will simply be put in line behind those of everyone who died ahead of you. Your survivors will be faced with an indefinite delay before they receive the assets you intend them to have.

Probate law requires that the attorney handling your estate be paid a statutory fee based on its total value, usually between 2% and 4%, unless his or her hourly fee exceeds that. Your lawyer will almost certainly take the larger amount. And your estate will also be reduced by probate court fees.

Another unpleasant reality of probate law is that the probate process is public from start to finish. Every decision a judge makes regarding your estate is a matter of public record. Your will, which is also a public document, can be an indication of some very sensitive family conflicts which you would rather never see the light of day. But if you do not take the necessary steps to avoid probate, probate law will require their publication.

When you decide to have your will drafted, dont expect your attorney to volunteer the disadvantages of having your estate probated. Probate law does not require them to do much for their percentage of your estate; the real work will fall to your executor. Your attorney, more than likely, will turn the job of drafting your will, and any jobs associated with the actual probate procedure, over to a legal assistant. For more information on estate planning and the probate process visit http://www.estatecontractstrusts.com

Its not at all exceptional for the attorneys fees on a half-million dollar estate to reach $20,000 during the probate process, while your survivors are waiting and you are no longer in a position to fix things.

Then there is the problem of which arises if you own property in different state, or even worse, countries. Your estate may be subjected to the probate law in each of them, with attorneys fees being charged for each proceeding.

Probate law, in addition, will require that your personal property be inventoried and appraised, and the fees for that will also come from your estate. If your estate runs out of cash, some of its assets will have to be liquidated to pay for the various fees, because until all the estate debts are cleared, none of your heirs can receive their inheritances.

If you now understand why probate is a bad idea, about something for which you will pay only once: estate planning.

Don’t leave your estate planning to chance. Learn about estate trusts to protect and safeguard your assets. Find out what is involved with living and revocable trusts and estate probate to ensure your assets are distributed as you intention.