Jerry Taylor explains which assets skip probate: jointly owned property, accounts with named beneficiaries, and assets in a living trust. Everything else goes through court, even with a will.
is important for you to know whether the things you own, your assets, will have to go through the court process called probate or whether they will not when you leave the planet. Here are the 3 types of assets that can in most cases avoid the probate process altogether. The first type of asset is anything that is jointly owned. This would be a piece of property, a house, a bank account. When you die and have jointly owned assets, title is then transferred to the surviving person. That asset does not have to go through court. The second type of asset is anything that allows you to designate a beneficiary. This could be life insurance policy, could also be a bank account, or in some states, a piece of property. However, if the person you name as beneficiary dies before you, it would have to go through probate. Third type of asset would be anything that you have put into a living trust. That is where you have titled that asset in the name of the trust. Any of those assets pass outside probate, do not have to go to court. Any other kind of asset, whether you have a will or don't have a will, will have to go through the probate court process.
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