Using beneficiary designations to avoid probate? Be smart about it

I get the feeling that when estate planning lawyers such as myself say that it's dangerous to try to avoid probate without understanding the full implications of what you're doing, people aren't really listening. They somehow suspect that things will be okay for them no matter what we doom-and-gloomers say. Unfortunately for the families of those people, it truly is sometimes a bad idea to make "avoiding probate" your first and only estate planning goal.

I really like this article from http://www.legacyplannerblog.com/ because it gives some real-life examples of exactly how it can go wrong. It's also fair about the fact that avoiding probate can work if done properly and in the right circumstances.This article talks about a couple of examples in which individuals named beneficiaries of certain assets, and in the process messed up their own estate plans. Click here to read the article.