Another way to keep some of your assets out of probate is to set up a payable on death (POD) account. With a POD account, you are the owner of the account during your life, and you can name a beneficiary who will receive the account upon your death. Since you have named a beneficiary on the account, by contract it becomes a non-probate asset and therefore passes outside probate and directly to the named beneficiary upon your death.

But, be careful! When you name a beneficiary on a POD account, your Will has no control over this account. And because your Will has no effect on your POD account, you need to think carefully about who you name as a beneficiary on the account. In other words, if you name one child as a beneficiary on the POD account and you write a Will leaving your estate equally to all of your children, the POD account would not be shared with the other children.

Only use a lawyer familiar with estate planning to avoid risks. Because of the complexity of estate planning it is important to consult with an attorney who does estate planning on a regular basis.

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