Answers
The questions families ask us most, answered directly and in plain English — with the detail underneath if you want it.
How much does probate cost?
Probate commonly costs a family between $8,000 and $25,000 and takes several months to more than a year. The bill is driven by attorney fees, court filing fees, executor compensation, appraisals, and bond premiums — and in most states it scales with the gross value of the estate, not what the family actually inherits.
Read the answerLiving trust vs. will: which do I actually need?
A will directs the probate court; a funded revocable living trust avoids probate altogether. Most families need both — the trust holds the assets and handles incapacity, and a short pour-over will catches anything never retitled. A will alone is the cheaper document and the more expensive outcome.
Read the answerHow do you fund a living trust?
Funding a living trust means changing the legal owner of your assets from you personally to your trust — recording a new deed for real estate, retitling bank and brokerage accounts, assigning business interests, and updating the beneficiary designations that should route to the trust. Until that happens, the trust owns nothing and prevents nothing.
Read the answerCan I sell my life insurance policy, and how much is it worth?
Yes. Selling an in-force life insurance policy to a licensed buyer is called a life settlement, it is legal and regulated in all 50 states, and it typically pays four to seven times the insurer's cash surrender value. Most sellers are age 65 or older with a face value of $100,000 or more, and the buyer takes over all future premiums.
Read the answerWhat happens if you die without a will?
If you die without a will, you die intestate: your state's inheritance formula decides who receives your property, a probate judge appoints someone to administer your estate, and if you have minor children the court chooses their guardian. Your actual wishes carry no legal weight, and your family absorbs the cost and delay of sorting it out.
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