What Assets Can Be Transferred Outside of the Probate Court?
Understanding What Assets Can Skip ProbateFor many families, the vast majority of a loved one's assets are not actually subject to probate court proceedings after they die. If a married couple jointly owns their home, title automatically passes to the surviving spouse. Retirement and other investment funds will also pass automatically, if you have provided beneficiary designations to the financial institution. Life insurance proceeds also pass automatically so long as the designated beneficiaries are still alive.
A quick check before someone passes to make sure that beneficiary designations are up to date can save the family a lot of time and money down the road. If you jointly own real estate with someone who is not your spouse, you should also check to be sure that the property is held as "joint tenants" and not "tenants in common." Joint tenants have a right of survivorship- meaning title automatically passes to the surviving owner. Tenants in common do not, which means the deceased owner's share would have to be probated. Remember, though, that all of these non-probate assets still count toward the $2 million trigger for estate taxes in Massachusetts. This means if the combined life insurance, real property, and bank and investment accounts total $2 million or more you will have to file an estate tax return, which will require opening a probate matter. Learn more here about non-probate assets in Massachusetts. |
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Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year.
Jenna Ordway: Jenna is a 2013 graduate of Quinnipiac Law School, and also earned an LLM in Taxation from Boston University in 2015. She has been affiliated with slnlaw since 2011, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney. Jenna has been recognized since 2019 as a "Rising Star" by Massachusetts Superlawyers. Jenna wrote a book on estate planning: The Road to Peace of Mind: What You Need to Know About Estate Planning. Jenna has helped many individuals and families with planning to protect their legacies and loved ones, and planning for the future and succession of their businesses.
Sharleen Tinnin: Sharleen is a 2010 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, and earned her LLM in estate planning from Western New England Scool of Law in 2016. She has been with slnlaw since 2023. Prior to joining slnlaw, she worked with King, Tilden, McEttrick & Brink, P.C. on complex civil litigation matters. She previously worked for the United States Department of Justice, and received an "Excellence in Justice" award in 2017. Sharleen has helped many clients with planning for their legacies and their future, and navigating the probate process in Massachusetts after the death of a loved one.
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Our experienced estate planning and probate team can help you navigate the process of handling a loved one's estate. You can use the button below to schedule a free information call with a member of our team and learn how to get started, or simply give us a call at (781) 784-2322.
Jenna Ordway
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