One way is through the administration of the estate overseen by the Probate Court. Probating an Estate requires the Probate Court to appoint an Executor or Administrator and for that individual to secure a bond and provide proof of the bond to the Probate Court. If you have a Will, your Will becomes part of the public record. Typically, the court will appoint the Executor you have named in your Will. In addition, you may state in your Will that the Executor does not have to secure a bond and that you want independent instead of supervised administration of your estate. Both of these items make it easier for your Executor to transfer your assets while working with the Probate Court. When the assets of the Estate are below a certain dollar amount and there is no real estate to transfer, the Estate is considered a Small Estate and probate is not necessary. In this case, typically only a Small Estate Affidavit is required. If there is a Will, this is done by the Executor. Otherwise, this is typically completed by the next of kin as determined by state law.