In the most extreme cases, it’s not uncommon for probate to take months or even years for your estate to make it through the probate process, leading to staggeringly high legal bills. There are several reasons to try to build an estate plan that avoids probate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Your heirs will have to wait longer
When you created your will, you made specific plans regarding who should receive certain assets. If your estate plan gets tied up in probate court, the loved ones whom you made those provisions for will have to wait months or even years to get access to the assets you wanted to leave them. In order to quickly get your last gifts to them, build an estate plan that doesn’t get tied up in probate.
It can be very expensive
Legal battles are never cheap. While there are some fees associated with estate planning that are unavoidable, getting an estate plan through the probate process can turn into a very costly proposition. This is money that will have to either be paid up front by your heirs or out of your estate. Either way, it’s a financial burden for your loved ones.
Probate eliminates privacy
In virtually every state, probate records are public records. This means that anyone who wants to find out how much your estate was worth can go to the courthouse and request a copy of your probate files. In some states, it’s even easier because probate records are made available online.
Estate planning requires a great deal of attention to detail and is a largely legal process. If you want to try to build an estate plan that will not be tied up in a long probate process, you should consult an estate planning attorney to help guide you.
