Many property owners think that a will is the best instrument for directing ownership for their heirs. I outlined in a previous article that a trust is always better than a will in order to avoid a lengthy and expensive probate process. I have many clients working through unnecessary probate proceedings and the timeline and stress is often not worth it. Although California is trying to make the probate process easier for those that qualify, there are many moving parts and timeline and process can be daunting.

This article walks though a few different worst case scenarios that can occur during the transition process. Items of consideration such as taxes, insurance claims and lawsuits can happen suddenly before a property has property transferred ownership. I have a client right now that is going through probate with a property she inherited and an entitled family member is still squatting in the property. Even after the probate is cleared an example like this is another hurdle to be cleared before full right of ownership is achieved.