Avoiding probate has little to do with avoiding taxes. In any case we suggest that a organized estate is going to result in lower taxes, lower death costs and fewer family rifts. Clearly establish your goals and communicate those goals to your estate planner so that the estate planning documents are thorough and effective enough to meet your expectations.

There is a huge difference between probate and trust administration (i.e., the marshaling of assets) and tax administration. You may be able to avoid probate, but tax administration will still be present (unless your estate is modest). Therefore, the goal in this area is to plan your estate to minimize the work that must be undertaken to administer your estate (either probate or tax administration or both).

Our firm handles probate and trust administration for many local and northern law firms.

Click here to request personalized information