If I make a Will, do my assets still go through probate?
If your estate plan ONLY includes a Will, your assets still need go through probate. Making a Will serves some important functions nonetheless, including, but not limited to: (1) designating the person who represents your estate after your death (called your “Executor”), and (2) designating who inherits your property. Whether a probate is needed depends on whether you transferred your most valuable assets out of your probate estate before death. Only assets held in sole ownership and without a designated beneficiary go through probate, which excludes assets that you transferred to a living trust or to an LLC. It also excludes death and retirement benefits that pass to a designated beneficiary. And even if you have a living trust and/or beneficiary designations in place, you should still make a Will that places any assets that fall outside of the trust or have failed beneficiary designations into your living trust at your death. Even if your assets don’t need to go through probate, an heir or beneficiary can ask the probate court to authenticate your Will due to a question concerning its validity. After the Will is authenticated, no further estate administration is necessarily required if you file the right paperwork with the probate court.