Ever wondered how to protect your family from the complexities of probate? Discover effective strategies in this blog post to save time, money, and stress. The world of estate planning can seem daunting, especially for busy families and entrepreneurs focused on juggling daily responsibilities. However, understanding how to avoid probate can save your loved ones time, stress, and money. Let’s explore this journey together with simple, actionable steps.

​1. Understand What Probate Is
Probate is the legal process through which a deceased person's estate is properly distributed to heirs and designated beneficiaries and any debt owed to creditors is paid off. While it sounds straightforward, it often involves a lot of paperwork, time, and can be costly.

2. Create a Living Trust
A living trust allows you to place your assets in a trust for your benefit during your lifetime, and then transfer them to your designated beneficiaries when you pass away. This bypasses the probate process, as the assets are no longer in your name at the time of your death.

3. Joint Ownership of Property
If you own property jointly with a right of survivorship, the property automatically passes to the surviving owner when one owner dies. This is common among married couples.

4. Designate Beneficiaries on Accounts
Many financial accounts and policies allow you to designate a beneficiary who will receive the funds directly upon your death, without going through probate.

5. Give Away Property
You can avoid probate on any property you give away during your lifetime. Be mindful of potential tax implications depending on the value of the gifts.

6. Establish Payable-on-Death Designations
Payable-on-death accounts operate like beneficiary designations, where the funds in the account pass directly to the named individual upon your death.

7. Understand Your State's Laws
Each state has different laws and thresholds for probate. Understanding these can help you plan more effectively.

8. Regularly Update Your Documents
Life changes like marriage, divorce, births, and deaths can affect your estate plan. Regularly updating your documents ensures they reflect your current wishes.

9. Consult with an Estate Planning Attorney
An experienced estate planning attorney can provide tailored advice and ensure your estate plan meets your goals and complies with current laws.

10. Educate Your Heirs and Executors
Ensure your heirs and executors understand your estate plan and the steps you’ve taken to avoid probate. This knowledge can ease the process and ensure your wishes are followed.

Avoiding probate doesn't have to be a daunting task. By understanding probate, creating a living trust, ensuring joint ownership of property, designating beneficiaries on accounts, giving away property, establishing payable-on-death designations, staying abreast of your state's laws, regularly updating your documents, consulting with an estate planning attorney, and educating your heirs and executors, you can successfully navigate this complex process. Each of these steps offers a practical solution to streamline your estate management, ultimately protecting your family from unnecessary stress and financial burden.

Remember, the key to effective estate planning is proactive action. By taking these steps today, you’re not only securing your own peace of mind but also safeguarding your family's future.

Don't leave your estate planning to chance. Book a free discovery call consultation with me today and take the first step towards a secure and probate-free future. Or, if you're ready to dive in, schedule an appointment for our comprehensive estate planning services. We're here to guide you every step of the way. Contact us now and ensure your legacy is preserved exactly as you intend! 

Earlier this year the team behind Grow Georgia had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the Georgia Notary Network, Inc. (GaNN).

The Georgia Notary Network (GaNN) is a community for notaries public commissioned in the State of Georgia ​to connect, learn, and expand business opportunities.
Not only is GaNN navigating the service based industry, but they are also the only black woman-founded, black woman-led Georgia notary non-profit organization. Their membership is made up of other small, and diverse owned businesses on a mission to grow across Georgia.

​Sydney Jordan, Vice-President of GaNN, reminded us that working on your business is important, but with professional growth, comes personal growth and new responsibilities; hopefully new wealth too! Continue reading this guest blog from Sydney on how founders can protect their assets and family as they grow their empires.

​As your small business grows, so do your responsibilities for employees, vendors, customers, and more. Hopefully this growth is also impacting the financial wellbeing for you and your loved ones in a positive way. These growth spurts are important times to take a moment and consider your personal estate planning so that you can be intentional about where, and to whom, to your assets will go during a transition.
I know this conversation may seem daunting, but it does not have to be. The best thing we can do for our families and loved ones is to ease the amount of stress/pressure that’s put on them when we transition. If this is something you care about then you’re in the right place!

Let me introduce myself, my name Sydney Jordan, I am a Navy Veteran, Paralegal, Loan Signing Agent, and Notary. I’ve been helping families with Estate Planning since 2017 and have worked as a Paralegal for five years. While serving in the U.S. Navy, I had the privilege of helping active duty service members and Veterans with critical documents, power of attorneys, court cases, divorce, litigation, and other legal proceedings. 

​Once I became a Veteran in 2020, I knew I wanted to continue to help people through all sorts of legal processes. My goal was to take the confusion, frustration, and trial and error process away from my customers and clients and explain the legal process effortlessly, while helping them draft their documents. I became interested in Estate Planning when my grandfather transitioned back in 2017. Just like many other families, my family didn’t know what to do. Unfortunately, all he had was a Will and there were still many gaps in his Estate Planning. Because of this, his assets underwent a lengthy probate process instead of innately transferring to who he wanted to designate. I didn’t understand why a Will worked in such a way, that didn’t benefit the family. 

During a loved one’s transition period, families have many tasks to do. They have to get a legal pronouncement of death, arrange for transportation of the body, notify the loved one’s doctor or county coroner, notify close family and friends, handle care of dependents and pets, and call the loved one’s employer (if they are still working). On top of all of this, the family needs time to mourn and cope with this new situation and some family members may need bereavement time off. This can quickly become overwhelming which causes unwanted feelings of anger and frustration. This is why families should not only have a Will, but a Living Trust. 

A living trust holds the assets of the trust creator in a trust for his or her benefit during their lifetime. Then, upon the death of the trust creator, the assets are transferred to designated beneficiaries by the “successor trustee," the person who had been chosen by the trust creator to do so.

Trust Creator has Control of Assets
In other words, the trust creator (grand parent, mother, father) has COMPLETE CONTROL of their assets/property when they are alive, but once they transition, the designated “successor trustee” transferred these assets to whomever the (gran parent, mother, father) designated in their Trust. Simple right? 

​Avoiding Probate
By placing your property in a living trust, however, you can avoid probate because the successor trustee distributes assets according to the trust creator's instructions without court intervention.

Retains Privacy
A living trust is a private document between the parties involved and does not become part of the public record. In other words, no one can later go and search public records to find out more about the distribution of your estate. A will, on the other hand, is public record, so everything in it becomes public as well.

Conclusion
All of these things can give you peace of mind now, knowing that your estate will be handled exactly as you wish later. The existence of the trust can also provide certainty and comfort to your loved ones during an already stressful time because you've laid everything out for them. 
According to The Wealth Counsel, “74% of American adults believe that estate planning is a confusing topic. My process takes the confusion and frustration out of creating your Living Trust! Let me help you and your family retain generational wealth! Still not convinced? 

About Sydney
Sydney is a wife, mom, and entrepreneur. Sydney is the owner ofSydney's Signings, LLCwhere she assists families with legal assistance. She served as a Paralegal Specialist and Notary with the U.S. Navy providing comprehensive legal assistance and Notary services to over 300 commands. She is a graduate of Columbia University where she studied Business Administration and Legal Studies. She is currently the 2022 President of the Georgia Notary Network, Inc. which is a Non-profit organization community for notaries public commissioned in the State of Georgia to connect, learn, and expand business opportunities. When she's not working, she enjoys roller skating with her three kids and hiking at state parks.

Connect with GaNN
https://www.ganotarynetwork.com/