Probate is the legal court proceeding in which your will is accepted by the court as your true last will and testament, and its terms and conditions are carried out under court supervision. The court appoints your executor. Probate changes title to your property and supervises the payment of your creditors.
Probate is expensive, time consuming, and public. Once a will is offered for probate, the process is controlled by the court, the probate attorneys, and the law, but not by your family. Probate is how controversies over your will and your estate are decided.
The cost of probate
The cost of probate according to one national survey averages between three and eight percent of your total estate. The smaller the estate, the more likely the costs will be closer to the upper range as a percentage of the total estate. This cost is the part of your estate that is used up and is not available to be passed to your loved ones. The costs of probate can include:
- Attorney’s fees
- Court filing fees
- Bond premiums
- Notices to creditors
- Appraisal costs
- Personal representative’s fees
In addition to the costs of probate, the process is time consuming. In Mississippi with a simple estate, finalization may occur in four or five months from the date the will is offered for probate. Most will take longer, often much longer.
Avoiding probate
A fully funded Living Trust can avoid probate and all the costs involved with the process. As the creator of the Living Trust, you transfer your assets into your name as the Trustee of the trust. You can do anything you like with the assets during your lifetime, but at your death, all the assets are owned by the Living Trust and can be passed to your intended beneficiaries under the terms of the trust you created, without the loss of privacy, without any court involvement, and without the delays required in the probate process. Contact us for an appointment to schedule your free no obligation estate planning consultation.
