BLACK FAMILY WEALTH MATTERS: Click here to learn how we are working to support you.
PROTEJA SU HOGAR Y SU FAMILIA - Se Habla Espanol. Haga clic aquí!
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Areas We Serve
      • Los Angeles County
        • Inglewood
        • Malibu
        • Santa Monica
        • Torrance
        • Venice
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
      • Attorney Caprice Collins
      • Attorney Lioness Ebbay
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Giving Back
    • Our Reviews
    • Speaker Connection
    • Staff Events
  • Services
    • Asset & Business Planning
    • Estate And Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses
    • Financial Planning Assistance
    • Incapacity Planning
    • IRA & Retirement Planning
    • Legacy Planning Services
    • LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Medi-Cal and Elder Law
    • Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • EVENTS
  • Resources
    • Elder Law
      • Ladera Heights Elder Law
      • Los Angeles County Elder Law
      • Elder Law & Medicaid Definitions
      • Elder Law Reports
      • Medi-Cal Planning Checklist
    • Estate Planning
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Reports
        • Advanced Estate Planning
        • Basic Estate Planning
        • Estate Planning For Niches
        • Trust Administration
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Free Seminars
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Business Succession Planning
      • Elder Law
        • Medi-Cal
        • Nursing Home Planning
        • Understanding Dementia
      • Estate Planning
        • Charitable Gifting
        • Estate Planning for Women
        • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
        • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Financial Planning
        • Tax Planning in Your Estate Plan
      • Incapacity Planning
        • Veteran’s Benefits
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Power of Attorney
      • Probate
        • Serving as Executor
        • Small Estate Administration
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Trusts
        • Living Trusts
      • Understanding Estate Taxes and How They Impact Your Estate Plan
    • Legacy Wealth Planning Pre-Consultation Form
    • Newsletters
    • Probate and Trust Administration
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
    • Published Books
    • The Ultimate Caregiver Guide
    • Caregiver’s Worksheets and Checklists
  • Videos
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Women’s Planning
    • A Guide to Estate Planning for Women
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Trust Administration
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Collins Law Group

Los Angeles Estate Planning Attorney

powered by BirdEye

Connect with us today(310) 677-9787

Attend a FREE Event
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
x

How to Protect Your Family In Case of Your Illness or Death

During our webinar, we discuss family home protection, avoiding nursing home poverty, preventing family feuds, protecting your kids' inheritance, and how you can keep the government out of your affairs.

Watch our webinar now
Home » Estate Planning » Can I Avoid Probate by Executing a Will?

Can I Avoid Probate by Executing a Will?

November 8, 2022Estate Planning

Los Angeles trust attorneys

When you think about the need for an estate plan, you likely focus on the desire to ensure that your estate is distributed according to your wishes after you are gone. While that is certainly a strong motivating factor in the creation of most estate plans, a comprehensive estate plan can accomplish much more. Probate avoidance, for example, is a common secondary goal for many people. Much confusion, however, exists regarding how to structure an estate plan so that an estate avoids probate. The Los Angeles trust attorneys at Collins Law Firm explain how leaving behind a Will does not guarantee that your estate will avoid probate.

Why Do I Need to Try to Avoid Probate?

The details of your estate plan are unlike anyone else’s and reflect your unique needs, wants, and goals. By the same token, the reasons why you want your estate to avoid probate are unique to your circumstances. Nevertheless, there are several common reasons why people make a conscious effort within their estate plan to avoid probate.

  • Probate is time consuming – probating even a relatively modest estate takes a considerable amount of time. In the State of California, creditors have four months from the date probate was opened within which to file claims against the estate. Consequently, you can expect it to take a minimum of six months to probate even a modest estate. Meanwhile, probate assets remain out of reach of the intended beneficiaries until the end of the probate process which often means your loved ones cannot utilize the assets you intended for their support.
  • Probate is expensive – expenses involved in probating an estate can dramatically diminish the value of the estate that is ultimately distributed. Everyone involved in the process is entitled to a fee for their service, including the Executor, attorney, accountants, and appraiser. Add to those fees the court costs and other fees and expenses incurred during the probate of an estate and it can get expensive rather quickly. Because those costs are paid by the estate, the value of the estate that is ultimately distributed to beneficiaries and/or heirs can be greatly diminished.
  • Probate is public – all documents submitted to probate, including your Will, become public record once filed with the court. That means that anyone can learn the terms of your Will, something many people would prefer to keep private.

How Does a Will Impact the Need for Probate?

People often think that the presence or absence of a Last Will and Testament will determine whether or not a decedent’s estate has to go through probate. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. For the most part, state laws govern issues relating to the probate of an estate. In most states, for example, the fact that a decedent left behind a Will has an impact on the need to probate the estate and/or the probate process in general; however, it doesn’t typically replace the need to probate an estate entirely.  In the State of California, it is possible for an estate to qualify for a small estate alternative to formal probate if the value of the estate is below $150,000. The key factor in determining the need for formal probate, however, is not the presence or absence of a Will.

Avoiding Probate with a Trust

Although the presence of a Will does not directly impact the need to probate an estate, the presence of a trust way. Assets held in a trust are considered non-probate assets, meaning they bypass the probate process altogether. Since a trust can be used to distribute your estate assets, the best way to ensure that your estate will not have to go through the probate process is to rely on a living trust or a testamentary trust to distribute your estate assets. You should continue to have a valid Pour Over Will in place even if you are using a trust to distribute your estate assets; however, that Will only serves as a safety net to catch any assets that did not make it into your trust prior to your death.

Contact Collins Law Group

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have additional questions about how to avoid probate and/or creating a trust, contact an experienced Los Angeles trust attorney. Contact the Collins Law Firm by calling (310) 677-9787 to register for one of our FREE estate planning workshops.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Caprice Collins
Caprice Collins
Attorney Caprice L. Collins is a top rated Harvard Law School graduate. She has 34 years of legal experience with a successful law practice devoted exclusively to Estate/Business Planning and Trust Administration. Attorney Collins is a well-respected keynote speaker on Wills, Living Trusts, Estate Planning, Business Planning and Trust Administration. She has appeared on California’s Real Estate Radio Station KTLK AM 1150 as a legal expert on Estate Planning and Living Trusts among many other notable media appearances.
Caprice Collins
Latest posts by Caprice Collins (see all)
  • Why Do We Need Estate Plans If We Do Not Plan to Have Children? - March 20, 2023
  • Using an Incentive Trust to Encourage a Beneficiary to Make Good Use of an Inheritance - March 17, 2023
  • How to Incorporate Asset Protection Strategies into Your Estate Plan - March 13, 2023

Other Articles You May Find Useful

Show Your Love by Creating an Estate Plan
Los Angeles estate planning attorney
How to Choose the Right Fiduciaries
The Importance of Having an Estate Plan
Los Angeles estate planning lawyer
How Do I Include Cryptocurrency in My Estate Plan?
What Makes a Will or Trust Invalid
Death and Your Digital Footprint

Primary Sidebar

Collins Law Group

Blog Subscription

Sign up to our blog to receive the latest estate planning news and updates!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Our Attorneys

Attorney Caprice Collins

Get to Know Attorney Caprice Collins


Attorney Lioness Ebbay

Get to Know Attorney Lioness Ebbay

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest

Testimonials

Client Review
August 19, 2020
    

“My mother told me about the Collins Law Group and I must say, the entire experience has been a real pleasure. Although I was nervous at first, the Collins Law Group staff put me at ease with their friendliness and knowledge. I didn’t realize how hard it could be on your family and loved ones left behind if you die without any planning or directions in place for them. My biggest concern was making sure my elderly mother would be provided for and taken care of if something happened to me. I have been a caregiver for her for 12 years, so this planning was crucially important. I had previously made a living trust for myself on Legal Zoom but there is no comparison to the level of service and professionalism that Collins Law Group embodies. Attorney Collins and her staff provides excellent service and it will take a large burden off of my family when they need guidance at the time of my passing.”

default image
-Ms. Jones

Where We Are

Collins Law Group
3330 West Manchester Boulevard
Inglewood, CA 90305
Phone: (310) 677-9787
Fax: (310) 677-6742
Email: clcfirm@aol.com

See Larger Map Get Directions

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Map

Collins Law Group Google Map

Footer

  • About Our Firm
  • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
  • Services
  • Sitemap
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Connect with Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Linkdin
  • Youtube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Collins Law Group footer logo

Attorney Advertisement

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.