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Your estate is simply everything that you own which includes the following: Any real property such as your residence Any businesses or interests in those businesses Bank accounts Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds Life insurance policies Personal property including vehicles, boats, etc.

A will does not avoid probate court and is less flexible than a trust. Although a will is typically less costly than a trust to draft, it may be more costly to have a will as your controlling estate planning document because your personal representative would have to admit your will to the applicable probate court. That means that your personal representative will likely have to hire a lawyer to help with the process, which can be lengthy and includes court fees. Trusts are more advantageous than wills in several regards. Trusts are private documents and do not need to be registered. They can be administered privately. Trusts are flexible in that you can choose to give your beneficiaries the assets of your estate either outright after you pass away, at certain age intervals (i.e. 25% at age 25, 25% at age 30 and the remaining at age 35), or keep the assets in a lifetime trust to protect the beneficiaries against their current or future creditors. There are many more advantages to having a trust than a will.

Whether your loved one passed away with or without a will, his or her estate assets typically go through probate court. During this process, a personal representative will be appointed to carry the administration of the estate. It is only after all funeral and burial expenses, attorneys' fees, and the decedent's debts are paid that the beneficiaries will receive their portion of whatever is left of the estate. Most people elect to create revocable living trusts to avoid the probate court process of court supervision, court costs, and the length of time it takes to administer a decedent's estate. Every probate estate is unique, but most involve the following steps: Filing a petition or application with the applicable probate court Notifying the interested parties/heirs of the decedent of the petition or application for probate Appointment of the personal representative or the executor of the estate Notifying the decedent's appropriate creditors (typically by publication) and also publishing to the court the worth of the decedent's estate Statutory payment of probate administration fees Distributing the estate assets to the beneficiaries of the decedent's estate Closing out the estate and filing the appropriate documents with the probate court

The primary purpose of a special needs trust is to use your trust assets to pay for items that are not provided for by SSI, Medicaid, or other similar sponsored government programs. If you had a will and left your special needs beneficiary an inheritance that would be above his/her limit to maintain government benefits then that beneficiary would be disqualified from receiving those government benefits. A special needs trust allows your beneficiary to maintain government benefits while supplementing those benefits with assets you left for them.

No. If you become incapacitated your family members will have to petition the probate court in your applicable jurisdiction to make financial and/or health care decisions on your behalf. Your spouse or children do not automatically make those decisions for you just because they are your family. A court ordered guardianship or conservatorship must be entered in order to make those decisions.