Do I Need A Probate Attorney?
Do I need a probate attorney? Min Austria Assistant at Ascent Law LLC Probate may be one of the most confusing parts of a person's estate planning process. A lot of people think they need a probate attorney, but their situations don't actually require it—in fact, it could be an unnecessary and costly step in the process. An estate is "probated" when the court makes sure that the legal documents are valid and that everything was done according to the deceased person's wishes. Probate isn't always necessary, though; there are several ways to avoid probate and keep your assets out of it, including joint bank accounts, a living trust, and beneficiary designations. If you have no property or debts and all your assets are jointly owned with someone else, there's no need for probate at all. A jointly owned property is automatically transferred to the other owner when one owner dies, meaning there's no need for a will or any other sort of legal action. If you ...