How to Bypass the 16-Month Probate Delay
In the United States, the probate process takes an average of 16 months to complete. To avoid this lengthy court-supervised delay, property owners often utilize Living Trusts, Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship, and Direct Beneficiary Designations on financial accounts. These methods allow assets to transfer immediately upon death without court intervention. However, if probate has already begun and you are facing an urgent financial need, an inheritance advance is the only way to “skip the wait” and access your funds in as little as 48 hours while the estate remains in probate.
Strategies to Avoid Probate:
- Revocable Living Trusts: Keep assets out of the court’s jurisdiction entirely.
- Joint Ownership: Property transfers automatically to the surviving owner.
- Payable-on-Death (POD) Accounts: Bank accounts that transfer to heirs instantly.
- Lifetime Gifting: Reducing the size of the probate estate before passing.
Probate is the legal machinery used to validate a Will and settle an estate. While necessary for some, for most families, it is a long and arduous hurdle. With an average duration of 16 months in the U.S., many find themselves asking: Is there a faster way?
Proactive Methods to Skip Probate
If you are currently planning your estate, you have several powerful tools to ensure your loved ones aren’t stuck in court for over a year:
- Create a Living Trust: Assets held in a trust do not belong to you personally; they belong to the trust entity. Therefore, they don’t go through probate.
- Joint Property Ownership: Owning a home or bank account as “Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship” ensures the asset passes directly to the survivor.
- Named Beneficiaries: Life insurance and retirement accounts (like 401ks) skip probate if a beneficiary is named. These are “contractual” transfers that happen outside the court system.
The Reality for Heirs: When It’s Already Too Late
Proactive planning is great, but what if your loved one has already passed and the estate is already in probate? Most heirs feel helpless as the 16-month clock starts ticking. Bills don’t wait 16 months. Mortgages don’t wait 16 months. If you are an heir caught in this waiting game, you have a modern legal option to access your equity early.
The Inheritance Advance: Your Shortcut
An inheritance advance is specifically designed for heirs who cannot afford to wait for the slow-moving probate court. Unlike a loan, there are no monthly payments or credit score requirements. You simply receive a portion of your inheritance now in exchange for a fixed fee paid by the estate later. This allows you to handle urgent financial needs today without being held hostage by the court’s schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Estates without a Will (intestate) often take longer than 16 months because the court must legally identify every possible heir before assets can be distributed. This “heirship” process adds significant time to the standard probate timeline.
Assets that bypass probate include property held in a Trust, life insurance payouts, retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, and any real estate owned in Joint Tenancy with Right of Survivorship.
No. An inheritance advance is an assignment of a portion of your future inheritance. There are no interest rates, no monthly payments, and the company is only paid when the estate finally closes. If the estate runs out of money, you are typically not personally liable to pay it back.