Here are some of the techniques that we use to avoid Probate:

Living Trust: assets are not subject to Probate, because legal ownership of the property is held by the Trustee of the Trust. Real Estate, bank accounts, and stocks and bonds can be transferred into a Living Trust. Warning: the Living Trust is a countable asset if you ever need Medicaid benefits to pay for nursing home care

Limited Liability Company ("LLC") is a business organization that has some of the characteristics of a corporation and a partnership. The LLC can own property, but unlike a partnership or joint ownership of property, members of a Limited Liability Company avoid personal liability for losses, accidents or debts connected with ownership of the property. Limited Liability Interests can be structured to avoid Probate Proceedings.

Designated Beneficiaries. The death benefits of a Life Insurance policy, and the funds remaining in an IRA or Annuity will pass directly to the individual people you name on the financial institution or insurance company documents as the Beneficiaries. You can avoid the need to probate those assets using beneficiary designations. When designating beneficiaries, get the advice of an attorney or accountant who can explain the tax consequences to you. Don't forget that there are techniques which can stretch-out the distributions from your IRA, and postpone the income taxes on your IRA funds for many years into the future!
Some financial institutions will allow your account to be designated as In Trust For (I/T/F) or Payable on Death (P.O.D.). With these arrangements, you continue to control the money in your account during your lifetime. Upon your death, the funds go to the person(s) you name on the account, without the need for Probate.
You can also designate beneficiaries on securities accounts, using standard procedures explained in Massachusetts law.
You can designate different types of Beneficiaries.
A Primary Beneficiary is the person named to receive the proceeds of an asset upon your death.
A Contingent Beneficiary is a secondary person who may, or may not, share in the distribution the the asset, depending on the happening of a certain event. For example, a person would be a Contingent Beneficiary if you fill out the form so that he takes an interest in an asset only if the Primary Beneficiary had died before the time of your death.
Warning: If you name your Estate as Beneficiary of an asset (such as an insurance policy or an IRA account) then Probate Proceedings will be required to probate your Estate.

Tenants by the Entirety: married couples usually own their homes jointly this way. The surviving spouse automatically succeeds to the decedent's entire interest in the property. This can save the surviving spouse from having to go through Probate Proceedings. However, Probate would be needed upon the death of the surviving spouse. Your deed must use legal language that specifically expresses the fact that your property is owned by you and your spouse as tenants by the entirety, otherwise Massachusetts laws will apply another form of property ownership such as tenants in common or joint tenants. Under Massachusetts law, creditors of one spouse cannot seize a principal residence owned by both spouses as tenants by the entirety. If you own property as an individual person, and want to transfer it to yourself and your spouse, Massachusetts law allows you to create a tenancy by the entirety.

 

Life Estate is an interest in real property that is transferred by a Grantor for the life of a living person. For example:
Bob and Mary Smith >>>>
transfer ownership to >>>>>>
Diane Smith and Sam Smith, with a Life Estate retained by Bob & Mary Smith.

In this example, Bob & Mary Smith keep a life estate and Diane and Sam Smith get a remainder interest.
The Remainder is the portion of the property remaining after the death of the person who had retained the life estate. To Transfer with a Retained Life Estate means that you have transferred property, but kept (retained) that property for your lifetime; and the property passes to the Remainder people upon your death, without the need for Probate Proceedings.
The value of a Life Estate and the Remainder Interest is measured by mathematical tables. The IRS has published a book of these tables called Book Aleph. Other government tables are used to determine the value of a Remainder Interest if someone transfers property and then applies for Medicaid or long term care or nursing home benefits paid by the state.

Joint Ownership is when two or more people own an interest in an asset or a piece of property. You can create joint ownership for many forms of property including your house and other real estate, bank accounts, your safe deposit box, and stocks and bonds.

Risk: Tax laws can cause gift tax, estate tax and income tax consequences if your transfer property into Joint Ownership. Even Norman Dacey, in his book How to Avoid Probate, did not recommend the use of Joint Ownership as a way to avoid probate.

There are different legal methods to own property jointly. Joint Tenancy is an equal interest in property taken by two or more people in the same conveyance. When a Joint Tenant dies, his/her interest passes to the surviving Joint Tenants, and not to the heirs of the person who died. This is called The Right of Survivorship, which gives the surviving owners the full ownership of the decedent's interest in the property. Right of Survivorship gives each surviving owner a greater ownership in the property, if any other owner of that property dies.

Conclusion: Be sure to read the next page, with examples of Cases Where Avoiding Probate Caused Costly Problems.

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