Can I avoid probate without setting up a trust? – Carpenter & Lewis PLLC

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Transcript:

00:00:03 So today I want to answer a question that we hear often. It sounds pretty simple. Can I avoid probate without setting up a trust? And the short answer I tell clients is sometimes because in the end it depends how your assets are set up. In Tennessee there are a few ways to bypass probate without using a full revokable trust. For example, you can add payable on death, POD, or transfer on death, call it to designations to bank accounts or investments. And you can name beneficiaries, basically the same thing

00:00:38 on accounts like retirement accounts, life insurance policies. You also can hold property jointly with rights of survivorship. So, it passes directly to the co-owner that you own that account with. And those tools actually work really well for some people. But here’s the catch. They only apply to specific and certain assets, and they very often don’t give you a full plan. For example, in Tennessee, you can’t have beneficiaries on real estate like your residents or even rental properties, which means if you

00:01:10 don’t own those properties jointly with someone else, which a lot of times is not a good idea to do, they will have to go through probate unless you take steps like preparing a revocable trust. And if certain assets like accounts don’t have a proper beneficiary, then they still might end up in probate. So, back to the question. Yes, probate can sometimes be avoided without a trust, but for many people and almost always those that own real estate, a revocable living trust is the most reliable way to make sure

00:01:44 things go smoothly and to specifically help avoid probate. And if you’re not sure what you need, we are happy to sit down with you, look at your situation, and help you make an intelligent estate plan.