About this item
Did you know? If you plan carefully, your estate may not have to go through the process of probate. Probate 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. Using the simple, plain-English instructions, you'll learn how to create a savvy estate plan. 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 money This 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.
About the Author
Mary Randolph earned her law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of The Executor's Guide: Settling Your Loved One's Estate or Trust, 8 Ways to Avoid Probate, Every Dog's Legal Guide: A Must-Have Book for Your Owner, and Deeds for California Real Estate. She is also a coauthor of the legal manual for Quicken WillMaker Plus. She has been a guest on The Today Show and has been interviewed by many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.
