How to Avoid Probate in Georgia

Living Trusts

Setting up a living trust is the most common way of avoiding probate. Living trusts, in their various types, allow you to distribute your assets according to your wishes without any intervention from the courts.

In a living trust, you appoint a trustee to manage your assets and name the beneficiaries. Depending on the trust type, the estate’s ownership may no longer be yours, even before your death. This is not as bad as it sounds. Relinquishing the ownership of your assets to the trust means fewer taxable assets and fewer taxes your beneficiaries have to pay.

However, not all assets can be put in a trust, including retirement accounts, retirement benefits, vehicles, health savings accounts, and cash.

An estate lawyer can help you choose the right trust for your needs and draft the trust document. This document contains important details of the transfer of ownership and other guidelines for the trustee.

In the case of your death, the trustee can transfer the trust assets to your beneficiaries without undergoing the probate court process.

Joint Ownership

Joint ownership, also called joint tenancy ownership, helps couples or business partners avoid probate through the right of survivorship. When two or more people own an asset, and one dies, the surviving owner automatically owns the asset and absorbs the late owner’s share. Assets that can be owned jointly include real estate and bank accounts.

In this case, the probate process is not necessary. However, the surviving owner needs to do some paperwork to transfer titles and deeds to themselves.

Payable-on-Death Accounts

If you own bank accounts in Georgia, you can name a beneficiary to automatically own them upon your death using the payable-on-death designation. It means that the beneficiary can formally request the money in the bank accounts without the need for probate.

A key thing to note is that your beneficiary cannot access the bank account while you’re alive, and you maintain full control.

Transfer-on-Death Registration for Securities

Brokerage accounts can also pass on to beneficiaries without the need for probate. You can simply register your securities as transfer-on-death and name the person you’d like to own them upon your death.

They don’t have to go through any probate to access funds in the account. However, they must re-register the securities in their names by sending a certificate of death and re-registration application with the brokerage company’s transfer agent.

Other types of transfer-on-death are not available in Georgia, such as transfer-on-death deeds for real estate property and transfer-on-death vehicle registration.

Estate planning may be complicated, but it’s definitely worth it. If you want to spare your family the trouble of the probate court process, our experienced and passionate probate lawyers will be happy to help you.

Attorneys at Perigon Legal Services have years of experience handling estate planning and probate cases. We can set up an estate plan that fulfills your wishes and keeps your family out of court.

We can help you in many ways, including:

• Setting up an irrevocable or revocable living trust

• Creating a joint ownership agreement

• Acting as intermediaries between you and institutions granting payable-on-death and transfer-on-death designations and ensuring that you get fair deals

• Acting as your executor or trustee to ensure the impartial distribution and management of your assets among your beneficiaries

Are you in Georgia looking to plan your estate and avoid probate court proceedings? Consider contacting our probate lawyer in Atlanta at Perigon Legal Services. We can make sure your wishes are respected and carried out without the involvement of probate courts.