Probate Attorney in Spring, Texas
How can I avoid probate?
How can I avoid probate?
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When a client comes in I kind of run through a little checklist in my mind to determine whether we should be concerned about avoiding probate. And so I would say the clients who really want to avoid the probate process are clients who include blended families. Blended families want to avoid probate because they tend to have more opportunity for a contest. In other words, maybe one member of the family is unhappy with the way that a parent has prepared an estate plan and maybe they’re unhappy that stepmother or stepfather are getting assets that they expected. And it’s that disappointment that can sometimes cause a beneficiary or someone who expected to be a beneficiary to be disappointed and file a will contest. When we suspect that could be a problem then we will try to avoid probate and make a revocable trust, the centerpiece of the estate plan, because a revocable trust is much more difficult to contest.
In addition, families who are making unnatural distribution should also consider the revocable trust so that it avoids probate. And I would say there are other reasons to do a revocable trust as opposed to a will in estate planning for business owners. Maybe a business owner has a business and there’s a lot of sensitive information that comes out in the probate administration process that becomes public record. And so for business owners, as well, I would recommend a revocable trust as opposed to planning using a will.
Even with a revocable trust, though, the client should know they’re still gonna have a will, it’s just that the revocable trust will be the centerpiece, it will contain all of the very sensitive provisions of the estate plan, and the revocable trust is a private document and so it’s not open – you know, it’s not public record and it doesn’t require probate. If there is a probate required then the pour-over will, the short, simple, small will that leave everything to the trust would be the document that would be public record because it would be probated.
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Spring, TX estate planning & probate attorney Christine Butts explains how she helps clients avoid probate. She mentions that when a client comes in, she runs through a mental checklist to determine whether avoiding probate should be a concern. She notes that clients who most often want to avoid the probate process are those in blended families. Blended families typically face a higher risk of disputes because there may be dissatisfaction over how assets are distributed—for example, a stepchild might feel disappointed that a stepparent is receiving assets they expected. Such disappointments can sometimes lead to a will contest. When she anticipates this could be an issue, she recommends making a revocable trust the centerpiece of the estate plan, as revocable trusts are much more difficult to contest than a will.
She also observes that families making “unnatural” distributions—those that differ from what might be expected—should consider a revocable trust to help avoid probate. Business owners, too, often benefit from a revocable trust. Probate exposes sensitive information to public record, which can be problematic for those with private or confidential business matters. In these cases, a revocable trust provides privacy and protection while avoiding the probate process.
Even with a revocable trust, she emphasizes, a client will still need a will. However, in this arrangement, the revocable trust serves as the primary document, containing the sensitive provisions of the estate plan, while remaining private and not part of the public record. If any probate is required, a “pour-over” will—a simple, short will transferring remaining assets into the trust—becomes the only document that enters the public record.
