How to avoid probate

What is probate?

Probate is the court-supervised process for settling an estate after someone dies. A judge confirms the will (if there is one), appoints an executor, and oversees paying the person’s debts and distributing what is left. If there is no will, state law decides who inherits.

Three things make people want to avoid it:

• Time. Probate typically takes 6–18 months, longer if anyone contests the will (California’s courts put it at 9 to 18 months). Assets can be tied up for much of that time.
• Cost. Court fees, appraisals, and attorney and executor fees add up. In California, statutory fees alone on a $500,000 estate come to about $26,000, and they are based on the gross value, not your equity.
• Privacy. Probate files are public record. Anyone can look up what you owned and who received it.

If you own real estate in more than one state, your family may face a second probate, called ancillary probate, in each state where property sits.

Can I avoid probate?

Usually, yes. Probate only applies to assets that are in your sole name at death with no built-in instructions about who gets them next. Anything that already says where it goes, through a trust, a named beneficiary, or a co-owner with survivorship rights, passes outside the court. Avoiding probate is mostly a matter of making sure every significant asset falls into one of those buckets.

How do you avoid probate? 7 ways

1. Create and fund a revocable living trust. Assets titled in the trust’s name pass to your beneficiaries through your successor trustee, with no court involved. It covers the most ground of any option, including incapacity, which is why it is the center of most plans. Online services like Veros now offer an attorney-reviewed one for a flat fee.
2. Name beneficiaries on retirement accounts and life insurance. 401(k)s, IRAs, annuities, and life insurance pay directly to whoever is named on the beneficiary designation form.
3. Add payable-on-death (POD) designations to bank accounts. Banks usually let you name a POD beneficiary on checking, savings, and CDs at no cost.
4. Register brokerage accounts as transfer on death (TOD). Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds can pass directly to a named beneficiary.
5. Record a transfer-on-death deed for real estate. Available in more than 30 states plus DC, it names who receives the property at your death.
6. Hold property in joint tenancy with right of survivorship. When one owner dies, the other owns it outright.
7. Use your state’s small-estate procedure. If what is left in your name is under your state’s threshold, heirs can often collect it with an affidavit or a short process. Thresholds vary by state; California’s, for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, are $208,850 for personal property and $750,000 for a main home.

Which assets skip probate without a trust?

Plenty of assets already avoid probate, as long as the paperwork is current. These typically pass outside the court on their own:

• Beneficiary designations. Retirement accounts (401(k), 403(b), IRA), life insurance, annuities, and HSAs go to the named beneficiary.
• Transfer on death (TOD). Brokerage accounts, and in some states vehicles and real estate, pass to the TOD beneficiary.
• Payable on death (POD). Bank accounts and CDs pay out to the POD beneficiary with a death certificate.
• Joint ownership with survivorship. A joint account or a home held as joint tenants passes to the surviving owner.

The catch is that each of these works only if the named person is alive and able to receive the asset. If your beneficiary dies before you, or no beneficiary is listed, the asset can land back in probate.

Does transfer on death avoid probate?

Yes. A transfer-on-death registration or deed avoids probate for that specific asset. It is simple and often free. It also has real limits: it does nothing if you become incapacitated, it pays a minor outright (which can require a court-supervised guardianship), and it has no plan if the beneficiary dies first unless you name a backup.

Does having a will avoid probate?

No. This surprises a lot of people. A will is a set of instructions for the probate court, so assets that pass under a will usually go through probate, unless the estate is small enough for your state’s simplified procedure. A will still matters: it names guardians for minor children and catches anything you forget to title elsewhere. Our guide to a trust vs a will covers how the two work together.

Does a trust avoid probate?

Yes, for every asset titled in the trust’s name. When you die, your successor trustee takes over and distributes the assets under the trust’s terms, without asking a court. A trust also covers what the other methods miss: it can hold a child’s inheritance until a set age, name backups for every beneficiary, and let your successor trustee manage your affairs if you become incapacitated.

The condition is funding. A trust controls only what you move into it, and many trusts are left partly or fully unfunded. That gap is what the Veros Essential plan is designed to close, with guided retitling for each account and your home. Anything left in your own name usually goes through probate via your pour-over will. See what it means to fund a trust for how each asset gets in.

Is avoiding probate a good idea?

For many families, yes. Avoiding probate usually saves time and money and keeps your affairs private. It matters most if you own a home, live in a state with high probate costs like California, own property in more than one state, or have young children.

There are cases where it matters less:

• Your estate is small enough to qualify for your state’s simplified procedure.
• Nearly everything you own already has a beneficiary designation.
• You expect a dispute and want a judge supervising every step (some families prefer this).

Probate also has a few features people value, like a fixed deadline for creditors to make claims. Rules vary by state, and an estate planning attorney can tell you how probate works where you live.

What mistakes send assets into probate anyway?

Most families who end up in probate did plan. The plan just had a gap. These are the ones that come up most often:

• An unfunded trust. The trust is signed, but the house and accounts stay in your own name.
• Out-of-date beneficiaries. An ex-spouse still listed on a life insurance policy, or a beneficiary who died before you with no backup named.
• No beneficiary at all. Old accounts opened years ago, before anyone asked about a POD or TOD designation.
• New assets bought in your own name. A home or brokerage account added after the trust was signed and never titled to it.
• Property in another state. A vacation home or rental left outside the trust, which can mean a second probate in that state.
• Relying on joint ownership. It works for the first death, then the surviving owner faces the same problem alone.

A quick review every few years, and after any major life event, catches most of these before they matter.

How Veros helps you avoid probate

Veros helps you set up a revocable living trust online, drafted in about an afternoon and reviewed by a licensed attorney before you sign, for $799 one time. On the Essential plan ($799, then $10 a month), Veros guides moving your accounts and home into the trust and produces the certificate of trust your bank and title company ask for, so the trust actually covers what you own. Already have a trust? You can bring it onto Veros on a $10 monthly membership and get the same help moving assets into it.