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What’s So Bad About Probate?
September 19, 2023
Everyone hopes to live a long life and slide gracefully into a peaceful old age. Unfortunately, a sad end to someone’s life has been known to arrive unannounced and sometimes in a hurry. In this blog post, we will explore the different pitfalls that happen when your family and friends will incur in probate.
Loss of Time and Money
- Questions & Answers
How Long Does the Probate Process Usually Take?
In most parts of Illinois, the minimum time to wrap up a formal probate is approximately 14 months. Often, this process is closer to 18 months.
How much will Probate Cost?
An average standard uncontested probate matter costing $15,000-$20,000 in attorney fees, court costs, filing fees, bond fees, etc. However, a probate estate can also easily cost over $50,000. These fees cause wealth to be lost. Your family may have to sell the family home, precious heirlooms, or other assets to pay these fees.
Compare & Do The Math
With a revocable trust, probate action can be avoided, and therefore, no family estate, heirloom, or other asset is being forcibly sold. A basic revocable trust package costs between $3,500-$5,000.
Your Financial Situation Will be Public
Probate filings are part of the public record. That means in many cases, anyone can look up your records and find detailed information about the assets of an estate and more importantly, what was passed to heirs.
What if you wanted to Disinherit a Child?
A parent has no obligation to leave an inheritance to a child. Only through a proper estate plan, can an individual leave property to anyone or any organization he or she chooses.
My Will Stops Probate, Right? Wrong!
Upon your death your original will must be filed with the probate court within 30 days. I hope your family knows where you put the original. So, they have the original will, great!
Your Will has now been filed as basically a suggestion to the court of your wishes. Now your named executor must find a reputable probate attorney and retain their services. A qualified probate attorney will require a $4,500-$8,000 retainer fee just to take your probate action.
Once the retainer fees are raised, you’re executor now must go work with counsel to go through the long and arduous probate process.
No Will
You pass without a Will. You are considered an Intestate Estate. The result is your property/assets will be distributed to your heirs according to the law.
Removing the emotional stress for your loved ones. A probate process that drags out for years can be emotionally challenging for loved ones. Probate also delays when heirs receive the assets. For example, when an heir is a dependent child or someone who simply needs the assets of money for something, this can be stressful.
Distributing Assets Quickly
At the end of the day, the most important reason to avoid probate is to keep the estate assets out of probate to ensure beneficiaries can access those assets faster. When a party places their assets in a trust, those assets do not go through probate, and beneficiaries can have immediate access to the assets when you pass away.