Randoph Mary. 8 Ways to Avoid Probate

Nolo, 2003. — 247 p. — ISBN: 0-87337-915-2 — 4th editionAvoid probate and save time and money with these eight strategiesProbate can drag on for years, and can easily cost your family thousands of dollars -- money that would otherwise have gone to them. 8 Ways to Avoid Probate offers simple and effective methods for skipping the probate process so that property goes directly to the intended beneficiaries.Your estate doesn't have to go through probate. You can avoid probate by creating a savvy estate plan, and 8 Ways to Avoid Probate shows you how. This book offers simple but effective methods to skip the entire process -- plus real-world examples of how others have used them. Find out about:setting up payable-on-death accounts
naming beneficiaries, including children, institutions, and multiple beneficiaries
naming beneficiaries for retirement accounts, vehicles, real estate, and stocks and bonds
special procedures for small estates
holding property in joint ownership, and alternatives to joint ownership
using a living trust to avoid probate
making gifts of property and moneyThis edition provides updates to estate and gift tax laws, updated 50-state tables on simplified probate, and additional information on how to bequeath real estate without probate -- 12 states now offer a special deed for just this purpose.