1. Deceased Estate Administration: How to Avoid Probate
In almost all cases, probate can be avoided easily, but still many people fail to do
so.Here is a list of the only 4 ways you can avoid probate. What is applicable on
your case will depend on who you want to inherit your estate and how your
assets are titled.
1. Get rid of all your assets.
This is the easiest way to avoid probate,
because without any property, you won’t
have an estate that need to be probated.
Of course, this is not at all practical as you
need money for your daily living until your
death. However in certain cases, giving
most of your properties away through
special kind of trust of which you can be a
beneficiary can make sense. Making use of
this kind of trust combined with one or
more of the other methods stated below for any assets that aren’t
transferred into the trust will mean no probate assets, and so no probate
asset.
1. Use joint ownership with rights of survivorship or tenancy by the entirety.
Another way to avoid probate is to add a joint owner to your investment
account or bank account or to the deed for real estate. This is possible if it’s
clear that the account is owned as joint tenants with rights of survivorship,
and not as tenants in common. If you’re married, in some states you and
your spouse can own a property with the rights of survivorship in the form
of tenancy by the entirety. However, be aware of depending on tenancy by
the entirety or joint ownership with rights of survivorship to avoid probate
because there are negatives effects to doing so.
2. Use beneficiary designations.
If you have life insurance or assets held in a retirement account like an IRA,
401(k) or annuity, then you’re already taking advantage of probate
avoidance by using beneficiary designations.You may not be aware that

2. most states let you designate beneficiaries for your bank accounts (known
as the “payable on death” POD account), and likewise for your
nonretirement investment accounts (known as the “transfer on death”
TOD).Additionally, a few states let you designate beneficiaries for real
estate by using a transfer on death dead or a beneficiary deed or affidavit.
In other states, you could use a life estate deed to maintain ownership of
real estate until your passing, and then give the property to your
beneficiaries after your death without going through the probate court.
3. Use a revocable living trust.
A revocable living trust is a written agreement that covers 3 stages of your
life: 1) while you’re alive and well; 2) if you become mentally incapacitated;
and 3) after you die.
But signing this trust agreement by itself will not be enough to avoid
probate. Instead, when the trust agreement is signed, you would need to
take your properties and title them in the name of your trust.You can avoid
probate only after your revocable living trust has become the record owner
of your properties. This is referred to the “funding” the trust. If any of your
properties sit beyond the trust, at the time of your death, then the
unfunded properties will have to undergo the probate court unless they
have a beneficiary designation or they are owned with rights of survivorship
with someone who outlives you.
If you need professional help in deceased estate administration in Perth,
and wanted to make the process less stressful and less complicated, visit
the website of Estate Administration Services at www.EstateAdmin.com.au,
or click on this link: http://www.estateadmin.com.au/trust-administration-
services-perth/.