What is probate?

If you understand how probate works in your state, you can put estate strategies in place to potentially avoid probate. Your financial advisor can work with you, your attorney and your tax professional to determine what may work best for your situation.
Generally, an attorney submits a last will and testament to the probate court, which starts the process to:
It's important to remember that every state and local municipality has different rules and processes for probate. Talk to your attorney to learn more about how probate may look where you live.
Some types of property (sometimes called non-probate assets) pass automatically to specific beneficiaries without a court’s involvement. For example, if you name beneficiaries on assets including transfer on death (TOD) accounts, 401(k)s, IRAs, insurance policies and annuities, they won't have to go through probate. In addition, assets that are titled in certain ways (like "joint with rights of survivorship") don't need to go through probate, since they pass directly to the other joint owner.
The probate process is intended to help provide some oversight on how your estate is handled after your death. But with that oversight come some potential disadvantages, including:
No matter what your estate includes, we believe it's important to understand how your assets will be passed down to your heirs. This includes gaining a high-level understanding of the probate process. With your team of legal and tax professionals, your Edward Jones financial advisor can answer questions you have to make informed decisions about your estate strategy.
Edward Jones, its employees and financial advisors are not estate planners and cannot provide tax or legal advice. You should consult your estate-planning attorney or qualified tax advisor regarding your situation.