Added Reasons for Using a Probate Court

Beware of these Scams

 

Within the past 15 years there has been an increasing tendency of those with an estate of any value to consider the establishment of a living will. The living will has been presented as an acceptable alternative to a will, which means use of the probate court. Many people want to avoid the probate court. They hope to avoid the expense of going to such a court. This article suggests four reasons why a decision to avoid the probate court might not represent a wise decision.

 

If someone decides to make a living trust, hoping thereby to avoid the probate court, then one exposes oneself to four possible scams. Scam number one involves kits. Actually it involves fake kits. Some unscrupulous individuals try to sell what would appear from their literature to be kits, kits telling someone how to make a living will. Individuals who purchase such kits find out too late that the whole thing is a scam. There really are no such kits.

 

A desire to avoid the probate court can also cause someone to invite the arrival at their doorstep of an individual ready to steal personal information. In developing a living will, one must be careful about who is given one’s personal information. It would certainly represent an unfortunate turn of events, if someone who had hoped to avoid the probate court suddenly found that his or her identity had been stolen.

 

Perhaps someone intent on having a living will feels confident that he or she would know how to be careful about giving-out personal information. That could be the case, but could that same individual fall prey to yet another scam? Could that person’s desire to avoid probate court still put him or her in a vulnerable position? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. There remain two more scams that seek to get money from those who want to avoid the probate court.

 

One such scam takes the form of a sales pitch. Someone who has come to the home to offer information on the establishment of a living will might then try to sell the unsuspecting soul some life insurance. Obviously, someone who has admitted to thinking about a living will is a ready candidate for the sales pitch about life insurance. If an individual does not proceed with caution, then his or her desire to save money, and to avoid the probate court, could result in the making of payments for a lousy life insurance policy.

 

Now the men and women who carryout the above scams have realized that they must try to cover-up their harmful intentions. They must appear to be very helpful and caring. Often such scammers make a false claim. Therefore they frequently claim that they have the endorsement of the Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP). Yet the AARP has not made an effort to push its members away from use of the probate court. The AARP has not endorsed any system for the creation of a living will.

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