Probate Avoidance — A Good Thing??

Judge William P. DeFeo (Connecticut Probate Court) has recently published his article entitled  Avoiding Probate Court: A Judge’s Perspective, 19 Quinnipiac Prob. L.J. 53 (2005).

Here is an excerpt from the judge’s article:

Write a will? Prepare a living trust? Purchase an annuity? Deliver cash gifts? These are the decisions that make up the critical pieces of a well constructed estate plan – a plan that deserves to be built upon a foundation of accurate, reliable information. Avoiding probate is not a plan, it is a commercially manufactured scheme designed to lure an uninformed public away from the good counsel of a licensed legal professional. The lofty promises to eliminate estate costs and realize huge tax savings are summarily dismissed by reasonable people. Good estate planning is not accomplished by performing a legal ‘sleight of hand.’ As any good plan, it is the result of clear thought and deliberate action.