Probate is the process of settling a deceased person’s estate in court. Your “estate” is all that you own, money, property and possessions, and the value of your estate when you pass is the value of those assets minus your liabilities (debt, taxes). Parts of your estate that are owned only by you or do not have beneficiary designations need to go through the probate process.
Having a will does not avoid probate. If there is a will, the court oversees the distribution of your assets according to your wishes as stated in the will. It does not let you bypass probate, however. If there is no will, the estate’s assets are distributed according to Minnesota probate law.
Four Things You Can Do To Avoid Probate
- Joint Ownership. Assets in your name only go through probate. Jointly owned assets do not. That means assets like joint bank accounts, a home that is owned jointly, or a vehicle that is jointly titled, do not need to go through probate to change the title. When one joint owner dies, ownership of the asset passes directly to the other joint owner.
- Payable on Death Designation. Financial institutions for savings, checking and investment accounts allow a payable on death designation. You have to ask for
it, but accounts so designated pass to the person(s) named when the owner dies. - Accounts With Beneficiaries. Some accounts provide beneficiary designations for account holders. Life insurance accounts, 401(k) accounts, for example, list
beneficiaries who inherit the death benefit when the account owner passes, thereby avoiding probate. - Transfer on Death Deed. For real estate, a transfer on death deed (TODD) that is filed with the county while the owner is alive acts to change ownership of property once they pass without going through probate.
To learn more, feel free to give us a call at Cancer Legal Care or visit https://www.lawhelpmn.org/self-help-library/planning-ahead-elder-law.
