Probate

Minor Children in Probate.

Because minor children cannot transfer title to property in their own names, a Court must become involved if the asset in the child’s name is sold. This would be the case where a child is named as joint tenant on a piece of property, or where the child has been willed assets by a parent or grandparent. In such cases, even though the child’s parents maintain control over the physical body of the child, it is the Court, NOT the guardian, who controls the child’s inheritance.

Many people have a Minor’s Trust in their Will to prevent the Court from taking control over the child’s inheritance. Such a Trust in a Will, called a Testamentary Trust, can work, but it is expensive to establish and you once again face the probate process, because it is ONLY through the probate process that the Will and its mandates are carried out and, AFTER PROBATE that the Testamentary Trust is established. The probate guardianship for a minor is essentially the same as the probate process outlined above.

The same disadvantages also apply as set forth above. After the probate process is complete and the Trust established, the child’s guardian must hire an attorney, post a bond, and submit a report to the Court each year. All of these costs are paid from the child’s expected inheritance.

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