What You Need to Know About California Probate

What You Need to Know About California Probate

Whether you have a last will and testament or no estate planning at all, California probate court is going to play a role in the dispensation of your assets after you pass away. Here are a few things that you should know about probate so that you can plan for your estate the best way possible.

• You only have an executor if you prepare a will. The court will have someone handle the dispensation if you do not have any estate planning in place.
• Probate court makes sure that any existing tax debts are paid before the remaining assets are distributed to your heirs. This may reduce how much your beneficiaries receive, but at least they don’t have to worry about the taxman showing up and demanding money.
• Probate is public record, so if you don’t want everyone to know what you left to your family, then you need to find a way to keep it from going through probate.
• Probate can get expensive and tie up your assets for months or even years before your beneficiaries get anything. The best way to avoid this is to find alternative ways to leave assets directly to your family or to be very clear in your will rather than using a template from the Internet.

Estate Planning Assistants from the Pros in Southern California

The estate planning attorneys at Petrov Law Firm can help you to keep your assets out of probate court, so they are not wasted or held up. Call us today at 619-344-0360 to learn more.