In California, the probate process can be expensive, time-consuming, and completely public, revealing private details about your estate. As a result, it’s best to avoid probate if at all possible.
I’m Sina Mohajer with Mohajer Law Firm, where we specialize in Estate Planning, Family Law, Criminal Defense, and Personal Injury. In this video, I’ll walk you through practical, legal ways to avoid probate in California. We’ll cover what probate is, why it’s best to steer clear of it, top strategies to protect your assets, common mistakes that still trigger probate, and when to speak with an experienced estate planning attorney.
Transcript:
As my friend Shakespeare once said, “probate or not to probate, that is the question.” And frankly, it’s an easy answer. It’s not to probate, because in California, it’s not only time-consuming, it’s costly, but it’s also public record.
In this video, I want to walk my viewers through legal ways to avoid it in the state of California. Specifically, what is probate and why to avoid it, top strategies to avoid probate in California, common mistakes that still trigger it, as well as when to talk to an estate planning attorney.
For those who don’t know me, I’m Sina Mohajer with Mohajer Law Firm. We specialize in estate planning, family law, criminal defense, and personal injury. In these videos, I like to tackle complex legal issues and try to simplify them for our viewers in order to give you that knowledge and know-how to handle your case more effectively. So if you like what you hear today, hit that like button and don’t forget to subscribe so you’re always informed of any new videos being posted. And without further ado, I welcome you to our mini-series called A Walk in the Park.
What Is Probate and Why Should You Avoid It?
So what is probate and why avoid it? Probate is a court-supervised process of distributing a person’s assets after death. It can be extremely expensive. Not only do you have court fees that you have to pay, but there’s also attorney’s fees that all come out of the estate, which means less is distributed to your beneficiaries.
It could be extremely lengthy. It could take anywhere from months to even years to finalize, as well as it’s public. That means there’s no privacy as to what you have in your estate. And in California in particular, probate costs are exceptionally high due to the statutory fee structure.
How to Avoid Probate in California
So what are some top strategies to avoid probate in California?
Revocable Living Trust
The most powerful tool I can think of is a revocable living trust, where you designate assets in this trust that upon your death gets divided to the beneficiaries and you can avoid probate outright.
Beneficiary Designation
Another one is a beneficiary designation. These are usually used for life insurance policies, retirement accounts, or pay-on-death bank accounts that once you die, the beneficiaries automatically get the benefit and you can avoid the cost and length of probate.
Owning Property Jointly with Right of Survivorship
A third option is also owning property jointly with someone but having the right of survivorship tacked on. That means if you were to die owning real estate with a co-owner, upon your death, the full interest in ownership transfers to the other person, again avoiding probate.
Transfer-on-Death Deeds
Another one is transfer-on-death deeds, where you can have real estate owned by you outright, not sharing with another co-owner, but you fill out the appropriate paperwork so upon your death that real estate automatically gets transferred to the beneficiary you selected in order to avoid probate.
Gifting Assets
And the last tool, although it’s a small tool, it’s worth noting, is gifting assets to reduce your probate assets outright. The less assets you have to probate, the less time it’ll take, the less expensive it will be. But you can’t avoid the public part of the whole thing.
Mistakes that Trigger Probate
Some common mistakes that still trigger probate are creating a trust but not actually designating any assets in the trust to take effect. Having outdated beneficiaries: if you were involved in a divorce and your ex-spouse is still named a beneficiary, that can trigger probate. A third one is owning property solely and not having any type of joint ownership with right of survivorship, that can activate probate. And lastly is overlooking digital or out-of-state assets. If you forget to include any assets in a trust or a will, it will automatically trigger probate to occur.
When to Contact an Estate Planning Attorney
So when do you talk to an estate planning attorney? Well, if you have significant assets or real estate, if you own a business or have investment property, or you want to minimize your taxes, maximize your privacy, or even avoid DIY risks. Because an estate plan that doesn’t conform with California law could end up failing in court and you’re stuck in probate anyways.
Contact Mohajer Law Firm About Your Estate Planning
So in this video, we covered a lot. We talked about what is probate, why to avoid it, top strategies in avoiding probate in California, some common mistakes that still trigger it, as well as when to talk to an estate planning attorney.
So if you have questions about your case or your estate plan, I welcome you to contact our office for a consultation. Happy to sit down with you one-on-one to explore the best options and tools to implement in order to protect your future and the future of your loved ones.
And like I said in the beginning of this video, don’t forget to hit that like button and remember to subscribe so you’re always informed of any new videos being posted.