Q. #2.   Is probate really that bad? Doesn't probate insure that everyone gets their fair share after I am gone?

A.  Despite probate reform in many states, very little has really changed during the past 50 years. Probate is still a privacy-invading, time-consuming and costly process with very FEW exceptions, and, fees often range from 1% to 5% of the value of the gross estate. Research and personal experience reveals that it is a rare situation where the probate proceedings are closed in less than 18 months. My own father's very small estate was tied up in probate for 11 years. One attorney informed me that it is almost impossible for him to handle a probate case involving real estate in Wayne County, Michigan for less than $6,000, regardless of the size of the estate. A recent case in Indiana revealed that two attorneys (family "friends") charged $26,000 (3.5%) in fees and took 37 months to probate the estate (which consisted SOLELY of $765,000 in certificates of deposit and a brokerage account) of a deceased woman.