How to Avoid Probate

Probate can be a costly, complicated and stressful process. However, with some effective planning ahead of time, avoiding probate – and the emotional and financial stresses that can come with it – may be possible.

At JR Phillips & Associates, PC, our Denver probate lawyers have the legal knowledge, experience and resources necessary to help people put estate plans into action and effectively help their loved ones avoid probate in the future. You never know what tomorrow may bring, so don’t put off discussing your estate planning needs with us. We can help you develop a comprehensive estate plan that will avoid the need for probate while properly protecting your loved ones in the future.

Planning is Key to Avoiding Probate

While the best course of action to help your loved ones avoid probate in the future will depend on your assets and your wishes, some of the tools you can use avoid probate can include (but are not limited to):

• Creating a living trust – Nearly any asset you own can be transferred to a living trust, which will hold the assets and oversee them according to the terms of the trust (which you will set). For instance, if you want to avoid probate for real estate, bank accounts or other assets you may own, creating a living trust for these assets can be an effective way to avoiding probate for them in the future.You have a lot of options when it comes to creating a trust to avoid probate, and different types of trusts can have their own advantages and drawbacks. Therefore, it’s best to contact us to find out which type of living trust would be most appropriate for your assets, needs and wishes.
• Making sure there is a “right of survivorship” for jointly owned property – When spouses or partners jointly own an asset like, for instance, a home, they can avoid probate for this asset in the future by making sure that there is a “right of survivorship” in place for this asset. Rights of survivorship effectively transfer an asset to the surviving joint owner when the other owner has passed away.
• Completing beneficiary designations – Some assets like bank accounts or stocks may have “payable-on-death” (POD) or “transfer-on-death” (TOD) designations that can also help your surviving loved ones avoid probate.In effect, POD and TOD designations will allow you to name a beneficiary (or multiple beneficiaries) for certain accounts, and these assets will be directly transferred to the named beneficiaries in the even that you pass away. No probate will be necessary for such assets.

There may be a number of other tools and strategies that people can take advantage of when they are trying to put plans in place to help their loved ones avoid probate in the future. Therefore, don’t hesitate to contact the Denver probate lawyers at JR Phillips & Associates to discuss which estate planning solutions may be your best options for avoiding probate.

Denver Probate Attorneys at JR Phillips & Associates, PC

When you are ready to start planning for your loved ones’ future after you pass, contact the probate and estate planning lawyers at JR Phillips & Associates, PC. We are skilled at devising comprehensive estate plans that can help our clients’ loved ones avoid probate in the future. If probate is unavoidable, however, our clients can trust us to defend their interests throughout the probate process and to help them to resolve these proceedings as efficiently and favorably as possible.

Contact Us Today

You can learn more about our array of estate planning and probate services by meeting with us for an initial consultation. To schedule this meeting, call us at (303) 741-2400 or email us using the contact form at the top of this page.

From our offices in Denver, we serve clients throughout the southwest and southeast Metro Area, including (but not limited to) people in Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Castle Rock, Parker, Aurora, Greenwood Village and Englewood.