CAN THIS HAPPEN TO YOUR ESTATE?

     Hyde Stewart, an Ohio postman, died leaving $22,864 and no will. When the estate was settled after twenty five months, it had paid out $2,077 in administrator's fees and $3,500 in attorney's fees.

How can you avoid falling into the "probate trap"?

Dear Friend:

Probate has a bad name.

     Generations ago, the probate system was conceived as one orderly way of transferring the property of a deceased person to his or her heirs. It was designed to protect the heirs.

     Today it has become an ugly, legal nightmare where lawyers, clerks, guardians, administrators, estate appraisers and bonding companies bilk widows and orphans 
out of their inheritance.

     All across the nation, greedy lawyers in league with conniving judges and bureaucrats plunder huge chunks - and sometimes all - of an estate.

     First, let's see what's wrong with probate, and then let's see how you can avoid probate - so that your family can get to keep the assets that are rightfully theirs.

Three things wrong with probate.

Probate costs too much!

In most states, probate fees are set by law as a percent of the "gross" estate. Say, you left an estate consisting of your home, an automobile, stocks and bonds, savings and a few other personal possessions worth $200,000. The executor's commission and attorney's fees to probate this estate in California would amount to $10,300.  Average fees in other states range from 3.8% in Utah to 11% in Alaska.

Let me show you how high the stakes are: Maryland legislature has been trying for the past seven years to ban percentage fees in probate cases; every year a lobby organized by probate lawyers has been able to defeat the bill.

Probate takes too long!

On the average, it takes two to five years to settle an estate. For all practical purposes, the estate is frozen during probate while the judges, court officials and attorneys have a field day picking it apart. The beneficiaries, in the meantime, wait, wait ...and wait. This is why many lawyers would rather write Wills for $60 and then make a bundle when the Will is probated.

Probate creates unwanted publicity.

Everything in probate court is a matter of public record and, unfortunately, there are individuals who go from probate court to probate court compiling lists which are then sold to unscrupulous people who prey on widows and try to separate them from their inheritance.

Sincerely,
Richard Graham

How Can You Escape From the Vagaries of Probate?

Now that you know why you should avoid probate, let me show you the most effective way of doing it.

The law has provided everyone with a magic key to probate exemption; it's called "inter vivos trust" or a "Living Trust." With a Revocable Living Trust, you can pass on your assets to your spouse or children or other heirs in entirety - without delay, and without the lawyers, administrators, courts, or the appraisers skimming off from the top.

Here's how a Living Trust works. You create the trust by preparing a trust instrument on forms in which you simply identify:

• Assets you're transferring to the trust

• Beneficiary of the trust (your spouse, children or other heirs)

• Trustee (i.e., you) who'll manage the trust .

Precisely to help you avoid or reduce the costs and the nightmarish problems of probate, we've put together a revocable LIVING TRUST KIT.  The Kit is designed for a lay person to transfer his principal assets to a Living Trust, name himself as trustee, designate beneficiaries who'll inherit the estate - without the rigors of probate -upon his death.

• The Kit contains step-by-step instructions, filled out sample documents, and all the necessary forms you'll need to establish your Living Trust.

• By creating a simple Living Trust document, you'd have freed yourself of the legalized larceny of probate. Simple as that.

• The Essence of a Living Trust: Simplicity, Flexibility and Control.

A Living Trust is set up by you while you're alive. You name yourself as "trustee" and you maintain full control over your assets just as before. You can do whatever you wish to do with them - manage them, sell them, or give them away. The trust does not become effective till you die or become incapacitated.

The person you would designate on the forms as beneficiary of the trust (your husband or wife or children) is called "successor trustee." Upon your death, the successor trustee takes over the estate immediately without going through probate and terminates the trust. It's that simple.

Your trust would be a Revocable Living Trust. You can abolish the trust or alter its terms or change the beneficiaries at any time you wish. The document provides you with the maximum amount of flexibility.

  
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