Taxation & Estate Planning

To Probate or Not To Probate: First Steps

By Joel A. Schoenmeyer

The first step in estate administration is deciding what type of estate administration (if any) is needed. And that depends almost entirely on how the deceased person's property was titled at his or her death. If the property was in the decedent's own name (no designed beneficiary, and not in trust or joint tenancy), and the property includes real estate and/or has a value over $100,000, then a probate is needed. If not, then maybe (MAYBE) probate can be avoided (at least in Illinois).

Full post as published by Death and Taxes Blog on December 01, 2010 (boomark / email).