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This news story -- which is a tragic account of a 13 year-old boy who shot and killed his father, and now stands to inherit under his father's will -- illustrates two important aspects of the probate process. a will, once filed with the probate court, becomes a public record for anyone to read. This fact is one reason why a person may choose to create a trust instead of a will; a trust creates non-probate assets, avoiding probate. probate estates under $50K avoid probate. However, it does not take much to reach $50k....often owning a home will meet the threshold.

It seems that the gift tax exclusion for 2010 will remain the same, $13,000 per person, per year. For more details, check out the IRS publication .