Unless you’ve been through the process of probate or estate planning before then it might be one of those subjects that you’ve heard the odd thing about, on the grapevine. And, if you believe what you hear then none of it would fill you with any kind of joy. With a view of, ‘putting the record straight’, here are few misconceptions and the truth behind them;
- The government gets all if you don’t write a will
This is one of the biggest misconceptions when it comes to what people believe when it comes to wills and estate planning. For some reason there is a general idea that, if you die without a will, then government/state law kicks in and the government or, state take control of money and assets.
Certainly, in America, every state has its own rules for who inherits what so it would be wrong to assume the same rules apply everywhere. Generally speaking, your spouse and children are first in line to inherit, in some states, the money and or assets are shared between the remaining family, equally.
- That the cost of going through the probate process will cost too much money
The estate planning lawyer in Parramatta will confirm that some estates don’t even require probate proceedings, in fact, in some states, lawyers charge a percentage of the value of the estate as their fee. So, if the estate is only worth $100 and the lawyer charges 5% as their fee then they will only ever get $5 however, if someone contests the will or accuses the executor of misconduct, costs can soar, ideally the executor would find a reasonable flat fee or hourly rate.
- That it takes far too long for probate processes
This one is completely subjective and will change case by case, there is no set rule although you probably only hear about the sob stories, people don’t to talk about the things that went well, so much. Granted, some estates can take decades to settle but, that is usually when the estate is still generating an income of some sort.
As a general rule of thumb, not much affects the speed of the probate process other than changes in government policies, sometimes things are put on hold until the policies are updated, other than that it’s just a matter of processing papers, be it simple or, complex.
Sounds better
Now that the records been put straight, if you thought any of the above misconceptions were true then you should get in touch with a local firm of lawyers to find out how they work and, what they do.
