Probate Estate

• Your probate estate is the total inventory of all assets and liabilities you have at the time of your death that are not exempt from the probate process. Probate is designed to ensure your last will and testament is carried out according to your desires, and it ensures that your estate pays off all of your debts so that your heirs and beneficiaries are not subjected to collection actions or lawsuits. Debts cannot be inherited, but creditors may try to press for payment from surviving spouses and relatives during their time of grief.
  
  

Non-probate Estate

• There are a number of legal ways to keep assets such as real estate, bank or investment accounts and personal property out of the probate process. Speak with your probate attorney about setting up the right of survivorship for any real estate that you own jointly and adding a payable-on-death clause to your bank and investment accounts. Also, be sure to review your life insurance policies and designate a specific individual as the beneficiary so that those funds will not be included in the probate estate.
  
  

Paying Off Debts

• When you pass away, the assets you leave behind must be used to pay off any debts you left outstanding. When you plan your estate, speak with your lawyer about setting up specific assets -- such as a life insurance policy that is payable to your estate -- to use just for this purpose. If you do not have enough assets to cover the outstanding debts, the probate court could order some items sold as a way to raise the cash. Sometimes this means that items you willed to a beneficiary do not go to him because the items were sold to pay your debts.
  
  

Selecting an Executor

• When planning your estate, you will designate a specific person to be your estate executor when you die. An estate executor can be a spouse, adult child, close friend or other family member who is willing to accept the responsibility. If no one close to you wants the responsibility of settling your estate when you die, you may be able to assign that task to your probate attorney.