Editing Probate (section)

===Avoiding probate===
Some of the decedent's property may never enter probate because it passes to another person [[contract]]ually, such as the death proceeds of an insurance policy insuring the decedent or bank or retirement account that names a beneficiary or is owned as "payable on death", and property (sometimes a bank or brokerage account) legally held as "jointly owned with right of survivorship".

Property held in a [[Living trust|revocable]] or irrevocable trust created during the grantor's lifetime also avoids probate. In these cases in the U.S. no court action is involved and the property is distributed privately, subject to estate taxes.

The best way to determine which assets are probate assets (requiring administration) is to determine whether each asset passes outside of probate.

In jurisdictions in the U.S. that recognize a married couple's property as [[tenancy by the entireties]], if a spouse (or partner in Hawaii) dies intestate (owning property without a will), the portion of his/her estate so titled passes to a surviving spouse without a probate.