Why Does a Will Have to Be Probated?n
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by: ryshep13@gmail.com
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The official way our society transfers the property of a dead person to living people is through the probate process.nnEvery county of the United States has a separate court (the probate court) that does nothing but handle probates. You'll find that the probate court is a separate area of the court house from the civil and criminal courts. If each courthouse has a separate area for probate, probate has got to be a huge part of the system's burden. When property is passing from a deceased individual to a living individual, it will have to go through the probate system unless it can be transferred using some probate avoidance trick.nnJoint tenancy with rights of survivorship is probably the most common "legal trick" people use to get around probate.nnYou should never use joint tenancy ownership of anything with anyone other than your spouse.Joint tenancy is a direct path to asset protection disaster and tax disaster.Oh, you might avoid probate, but you are going to pay dearly just to try and avoid probate.POD accounts, life insurance policies, IRAs, 401(k)s, other retirement accounts, benefit accounts, and a number of other common legal tools avoid probate in specific situations.nnAssuming there will be a probate, you certainly need a will to express your desires to the court. You'll either have to write your own will, or the probate court will use the state's statutory will. Look at your state's will. You're not going to love it. Please at least prepare a simple will for yourself. A signature is required to transfer the following types of property. Bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, brokerage accounts, car titles, and of course real estate all need a signature to transfer ownership.nnA safety deposit box can only be opened by your signature, so who signs after you die? In order to sell your home after you die, the deed will need to be signed. Who will sign it? That's when she is going to have a problem. When the title company sees your name on the deed, no matter who lived there or for how long, the title company will ask for you to come and sign the deed. Of course you are dead and not signing a lot of deeds. Your daughter will argue that the house is hers. She may even produce a will which says she gets the house. But, the title insurance company isn't going to let her sign the deed. It's a certainty that the buyer won't accept her signature.nnYour daughter is going to have to prove to the court's satisfaction that the will she has is your one and only last will and testament. The probate court can't take her word when she says it is your will. The probate court will demand proof. She will have to prove that you didn't have any creditors or at least that your creditors have been paid off. She can do this by publishing in the papers to find any creditors she doesn't know about.nnThe judge will authorize your daughter to sign your name on the deed to make the transfer. Even though your signature isn't actually on the deed, the letters testamentary will be recorded with the title, by the title company, and the world will know that the probate process has been met and the buyer has good title.nnGuaranteed Millionaire, my new book, gives you a detailed explanation of the probate process. Order it now and get a bonus FREE 90 minute audio CD. Make sure you click or ask for the bonus, which is a $20 value.n
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For more information on how to probate a will please visit our website above and get a free 90 minute informational DVD.n
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