We receive many calls from people when their spouses pass away to set up
appointments to probate their estate. However, probate is not always necessary. In
most cases, assets are jointly owned, and Pennsylvania is known as a right of
survivorship state, which means that the surviving spouse automatically inherits
the deceased’s share of the asset. If assets are not jointly owned, these are other
circumstances wherein the spouse does not need to probate:
- If a Trust has been set up for the surviving spouse;
- If an asset designates the spouse as beneficiary, such as life insurance
policies and retirement accounts.
Unfortunately, sometimes, we have had instances where the deceased spouse had
real estate, a bank account, stocks, or another asset in their name alone, and this
required us to probate in order to get the surviving spouse appointed just to
transfer, close, or liquidate the asset. This required us to go to schedule a time to go
to the Courthouse to probate, advertise the estate, send out beneficial notices,
prepare and file an inheritance tax return, just like we would have to do with a
regular estate, causing them to incur additional unnecessary expenses.
With the right advice and if everything is set up properly prior to someone passing,
the additional expenses of probate can be totally avoided.
Some other facts to be known: when your spouse passes away, and your name is on
the title to the real estate or car title, it is not necessary to have a new deed
prepared or the car title changed until the time the asset is sold or transferred to
another individual. However, it would be very helpful if the surviving spouse would take
a Death Certificate to the bank where the joint account or accounts are held so that
they have it on file. This helps when the surviving spouse passes away, and the
account needs to be closed.