this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Honestly, if you have a net worth of more than mid-5-digits, lawyer up.
The lawyer told me crazy shit that I didn't realize were law (I'm common-law with my GF, but if I died, the house would go to my parents, not her).
They can also provide advice on how to simplify your estate -- like altering the title of any property you own so that it flows down to your beneficiaries and avoids probate.
Right now, in the wake of COVID, Probate courts are backed up, in some cases for years. Dodging probate as much as possible will make wrapping up your estate as simple as possible.
Only other advice: If you have more than one attourney or executor, assign an impartial third party with no interest in the situation as a 'tie breaker' in case there's a dispute -- I've spent nearly $20k on lawyers and courts to resolve an issue that couldn't be handled in a sane manner because someone fell down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.