Joint ownership of property – You can jointly own property. On the deed to the property (usually real estate), you state how you want that property to be held. Choices are joint tenancy with the right of survivorship, which means that if one owner dies, the other takes ownership without the need for probate. Another possibility is joint tenancy by entirety which is used by married couples and in some states, domestic partners. A third possibility is tenancy in common. A fourth is community property with the right of survivorship. This fourth option is only available in states that recognize domestic partners and the partners live or own property in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Texas or Wisconsin.
Name beneficiaries on all possible accounts and property – This may seem like it would be automatic, but it is important to be sure there are the beneficiaries you want on your life insurance policies, financial accounts both at a bank and through a securities brokerage, pension plans, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, IRA accounts and other investments.
Pay-on-death accounts and registrations – You can convert your retirement accounts and bank accounts to “pay-on-death” accounts by signing a beneficiary form. You can also convert your security accounts and your vehicle registrations, in most states. More than half of the states also allow “transfer-on-death” real estate deeds.
Transfer-on-death for securities and vehicle registrations – For your securities accounts, you can sign a form authorizing a “beneficiary on death.” This means that the beneficiary can only take ownership after your death or transfer-on-death. Probate will not be involved. They will only have to show identification and a death certificate. In about half of the states, you can do the same for vehicles.
Write a revocable living trust – If you are thinking of setting up a trust to avoid probate, you want to consider the positives and negatives of a revocable living trust carefully. First is the cost. If you have an average estate, probate may cost between $1,500 – $2,500 depending on where you live. A living trust has to be maintained over your lifetime and chances are, you will need an attorney to maintain it. In this case, your cost will be quite a bit higher than if you go through probate. On the positive side, revocable living trusts were developed to help avoid probate. Your property is held in trust for you and does not enter into any probate proceeding upon your death. This is because the trustee owns the property, not you individually. The trust document is like a will. You specify who you want to inherit and the trust property (your estate) is transferred to them upon your death.
Gifts – Giving gifts to your desired heirs before your death is another way to avoid probate as long as you do not exceed the federal guidelines regarding the value of gifts you can give. Gifts over $15,000 in value per year to the same recipient are subject to tax. Anything below that is not and that allows for substantial estate tax savings if you are subject to estate tax. As long as your spouse is a U.S. citizen, you can give them whatever amount in gifts you like with no limits and no tax.