Why Do I Need a Probate If I Have a Will?
By Patricia Louise Nelson
“But she died with a will! Why is the bank requiring a probate?!” I wish this were an uncommon question in my practice. Unfortunately, it is one of our most frequently asked questions. The number one misunderstanding of my clients is that a will avoids probate. The opposite is true.
A will requires a probate to implement it. By contrast, a revocable living trust does not. A will cannot by itself get the assets to the beneficiaries. It is like a car without a transmission. All the working parts are there, but without the “transmission” of probate, it cannot get things to the beneficiaries. The probate process implements the will.
The benefit of a will is that it can change who gets what from the intestate statutes (laws that determine who will get your assets). In Oregon, if a person that dies without a will, is married and either has no children or all their children are also the children of their surviving spouse, then all their assets go to the surviving spouse. If, on the other hand, even one child of the deceased spouse is not the child of the surviving spouse, then one-half of the assets go to the surviving spouse and the other half is divided among all of the deceased spouse’s children (even if some of them are also the children of the surviving spouse). If the person is not married and has children, the children will take the assets. It gets more complicated if a child of the deceased person died before the deceased person, so call our office to help figure out who gets what if a person died without a will.
Find out more at: https://www.twosprucelaw.com/videos/if-i-have-a-will-why-do-i-need-probate
