What’s Probate?
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“The Probate Process is a RE-DISTRIBUTION of Your Wealth by the Judicial System”
Each of the 50 state courts have judicial probate procedures to ascertain that your wealth is RE-DISTRIBUTED according to your will, or … if without a will, the court will decide who will receive your wealth.
The Probate Process (RE-DISTRIBUTION of your wealth) begins after your death. Everything you “own” in your name on the date of your death is inventoried, appraised, categorized, and accounted. First, the courts will investigate and validate your will to make sure there’s no foul play. Next, all claims are investigated and validated. Next, creditors and taxes are paid then the heirs get what’s left.
The Probate Process is a Public Procedure/Public Information is available to anyone wishing to know the details of your will and assets. Your Will is a Public Record. All creditors, long lost relatives, or anyone can file a claim against the decedent’s assets. The courts will then have to investigate and validate all claims against the estate. The process takes time, it’s expensive, and totally unnecessary. Courts fees for adminstration, accountants, appraisers, lawyers, and other administrators all earn a fee. The government is the largest heir, they get paid before any final distribution to the heirs. With or without a will, everything in your name will have to go to probate.
With The ULTRA TRUST® you don’t qualify for the Probate Process because you don’t “own” anything in your name on the date of your death.
Lawyers, appraisers, accountants, court administrators, etc. will not be able to earn a fee. And, because you died without any assets, you don’t qualify to file or to pay estate taxes.
You can avoid probate with any trust but you can only avoid estate taxes with The ULTRA TRUST®.
For additional resources click here:
- What’s an estate tax?
- Estate Planning & Trusts
- Estate Planning & Trust Services
About Probate:
PROBATE…is about redistribution of your wealth .
- Anything in your Trust, avoids probate. Anything NOT in your trust, goes to probate , with or without a will.A will does NOT avoid probate.ESTATE…is about the fair market/cash value of your assets.
- The Fair Market Value of anything (in your name) on the date of your death IS TAXABLE. The government is your largest heir. ESTATE TAX is a tax on the fair market value not what you paid
- Anything in your estate (in your name) is taxable up to 55%. Anything NOT in your name, is NOT taxable.
- A TRUST An ” artificial legal person” created by private contract.
The PROBATE PROCESS is a money making risk-free bonanza for lawyers, accountants, appraisers, judges, federal and state tax agencies who may consume up to 70 to 80 % of your estate.
The federal government has done all it can to ensure that they are not left out. In fact, the federal government stakes their first and largest claim between 37 to 55% of your assets. States are second in line, then the courts, lawyers, appraisers, accountants, executors, administrators…Finally, what’s left go to your heirs.
Various tax proposals are being bandied about, including House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Archer who says that he’s “pushing” to “g r a d u a l l y phaseout” the death tax within the next 10 years. “Death by itself should not trigger a tax” says Chairman Archer. Currently, estate taxes vary from 37% to 55%. Only Japan has a higher rate of 70%. Germany takes a maximum of 40%, while Australia and Canada, take nothing.
When you add-up your federal, state, probate, legal fees, accounting fees, appraisal fees, administrative and executor fees, and etc. fees, it could easily cost you 70 to 80% of your estate. You can avoid these unwanted results with the Ultra Trust®, the Medallion Trust® or our prominent, exclusive Vertex Trust® for ultimate offshore and Foreign Asset Protection Trusts (FAPT). If you don’t “own” any assets, you don’t qualify for the Probate Process, and you don’t qualify to pay the estate tax.
NOTE: The new 2001 tax PHASE-IN for estate taxes, changes absolutely nothing. The estate tax is the only voluntary tax. The new laws have added confusion. You can avoid the voluntary estate tax by simply engineering an irrevocable trust. Call Estate Street Partners Now for Your Uncompromising, Alternative and Exclusive Estate Planning & Wealth Management to Attain an Accelerated Chartered Roadmap to Financial Success.
Helpful resources: Common follow-up reading includes Revocable vs Irrevocable Trust, Case Studies, and official CFPB guidance for heirs while sorting through timing, control, and long-term protection choices.
What often changes the answer
After reviewing What’s Probate? Avoid Probate & Estate Taxes with Trust, many people want a clearer sense of how the answer changes once real life timing, funding, and control are added to the discussion.
What usually shapes the next step
- Timing matters because tax planning usually works best before a crisis or audit pressure appears.
- Control matters because retained powers can change how the IRS views a trust or transfer.
- Funding matters because moving the right asset, in the right way, often matters more than the label on the document.
Where readers often continue
A practical next reading path is Irrevocable Trust, Asset Protection Trust, and What Is a Grantor. When government rules shape the decision, many readers also review official IRS estate and gift tax guidance.
