You can put all your assets in a living (revocable) trust. The trustee will follow the instructions in the trust agreement about what to do upon your death. The bills will be paid and the assets distributed through what is called a trust administration, not through probate. In Minnesota, a trust administration is not a lot different from a probate. If there are no disputes, the will can be administered informally, and the court involvement will be minimal to none. This saves at least $320 because there is no filing fee. Also, there is no mandatory waiting period before the assets can be distributed in a trust administration, as opposed to a four-month waiting period for a probate. On the other hand, assets in a trust administration should not be distributed until all bills have been identified and paid off. If you were sick just before you died, it may take some time for the health care providers to finish billing. In probate, once that four-month waiting period has ended, creditors that come in late can be barred. There is no such statutory bar in a trust administration.

The other way to avoid probate is to name beneficiaries on all of your assets. When you set up a retirement account or buy a life insurance policy, you will be asked to complete a form naming beneficiaries. The process is simple and easy.

For other assets like bank accounts, stock accounts, certificates of deposit or bonds, you can ask the bank or brokerage firm to add a pay on death (POD) or transfer on death (TOD) designation to the account. This is simple and easy, but you have to ask the bank or brokerage firm to do this. They will not necessarily suggest it. Also, be careful not to let the bank officer or stockbroker persuade you to make the bank account a joint account with a family member. Making a person a joint owner on the account means that those assets will go to that person upon your death, if that person survives you. This also gives that person the power to take those assets and use them during your lifetime. You avoid such a lifetime transfer by adding a POD or TOD designation to the account.

For real estate, a document similar to POD or TOD designation can be signed for liquid assets. It is called a transfer on death deed (TODD). Again, this is better than making a person a joint tenant or reserving a life estate and giving someone a remainder interest because it does not actually transfer anything until you die. The house remains your house, and if you sell it, you get all the proceeds. However, if you have made relatives joint tenants or transferred a remainder interest to them, you may not get all the proceeds from the house sale. If you are interested to know more about TODDs, please read the FAQ: What is a transfer on death deed?