Is it necessary for all of the decedent’s property to go through probate?

Not necessarily, however, some legal method must be employed to transfer the legal title and ownership of the deceased’s property into the name of the beneficiaries and/or heirs. Many states also allow some types of property to pass to certain beneficiaries free of probate or via a simplified (express or fast-track) probate procedure.

Usually, real and personal property owned under a structure called “joint tenancy with rights of survivorship” passes to the surviving co-owner(s) without a requirement for probate.

Other types of benefits, such as a life insurance policy or an annuity that is payable directly to a named beneficiary can often be tendered without the requirement for probate. Also, IRAs, Keoghs, and 401(k) accounts usually transfer to the persons named therein as heirs or beneficiaries automatically without probate. Bank accounts that are set up as “payable-on-death” accounts; ones that are being “held in trust for” specific heirs or beneficiaries (also called a “Totten Trust”) also pass the proceeds directly to the named heirs or beneficiaries without probate.

A “living trust” that holds title to a property held in trust also passes that property to the heirs or beneficiaries without probate. Such a trust is a legal entity which survives after the death of the person who created it.