To Avoid Costly Probate Think About Estate Planning First

Probate is a division of the Superior Court of the State of California. The Probate court has jurisdiction over what are deemed 'legally incompetent parties', generally that includes deceased, disabled, and incapacitated persons. The responsibility of the Probate court is to protect these individuals and their assets.

It is human to have a desire to only focus on today and the near future Facts of life such as death and its consequences on the finances, assets, and our loved ones are quite often neglected. Estate planning is one of the most challenging facets of individual finance therefore people set it aside for later, yet is it also extremely necessary to take care of such matters if people wish their loved ones to be safe from the costly, time consuming and stressful probate proceedings. It is important that people understand what probate is, why they would want to avoid it and what is the best way of avoiding probate? Steven F. Bliss, an attorney at law explains on his website (http://steveblisslaw.com/) what Probate means:

“Probate is a division of the Superior Court of the State of California. The Probate court has jurisdiction over what are deemed ‘legally incompetent parties’, generally that includes deceased, disabled, and incapacitated persons. The responsibility of the Probate court is to protect these individuals and their assets.”

Probate proceedings take a lot of time to complete in most parts of Southern California, Probate proceedings can take anywhere from eight months to two years to complete depending upon the complexity of the case. Such cases also cost the family many thousands of dollars. Such proceedings are also not private and are open to public review.

To avoid Probate people must understand that a Will is not enough to avoid probate proceedings because as Steve points out: “A will is merely a writing signed by a deceased person. In order to get assets transferred out of a deceased person’s name, you will need a court order; hence this is why you go through the probate process”.

The best means of avoiding costly Probate is to have in place a full estate plan with a Revocable Living Trust as the lynchpin of the estate plan. An Estate Plan works like a strategy for:

1. The management and distribution of the assets in the event of death or incapacity
2. The carrying out of wishes with regard to the caretaking of person or remains upon incapacity or death.

With such a strategic plan in place, the need for the Probate court to interfere in the financial matters and distributions is not necessary. Learn more about Estate Planning at: http://steveblisslaw.com/san-diego-estate-planning/

About Law Office of Steven F. Bliss, Esq.:

Law Office of Steve F. Bliss, Esq. is a private practice of Steven F. Bliss a Wills, Living Trusts, Estate Planning, Bankruptcy, Probate and Trust Administration Attorney. He has been delivering client oriented services for over 22 years in the San Diego Area.

For more information visit: http://SteveBlissLaw.com and Google+ Page

Media Contact
Company Name: SteveBlissLaw.com
Contact Person: Steven F. Bliss, Esq., Attorney at Law
Email:Send Email
Phone: (858) 278-2800
Address:3914 Murphy Canyon Rd. Suite A202
City: San Diego
State: CA
Country: United States
Website: http://SteveBlissLaw.com
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