How To Avoid Probate In California

How To Avoid Probate In California

Attorney Julian LaCasse explains:

The most common way to avoid probate in California is by having a living trust and having your assets transferred into the living trust. There are other ways to avoid probate. For example, joint tenancy accounts will transfer immediately on your death to the joint tenant of the account without having to go through probate.

However, joint tenancy accounts alone may not be sufficient because, for example, if you leave a joint tenancy account to someone else, if someone or a pay on death account, which is another type of account where it’s in your name, but it goes to someone else on your death, automatically. What if that person predisposed predisposes you? Then you don’t have anything that avoids probate, and your assets would have to go through a probate.

So, there are probate avoidance processes. But it’s important to go to an experienced estate planning attorney. And that person will really help you think through what you’re doing to avoid probate and whether that’s in your best interest in your particular case.