Last month I answered the following question: “Who gets my property if I don’t have a will?”

I explained in that column that if you die without a valid will, you die intestate. If you don’t have a proper estate plan in place, a probate court will have to determine your heirs according to state law. If that happens there’s a good chance the court will not distribute your property the same way you would have. The court has no particular concern for the best interests of you and your family.

Don’t gamble with the distribution of your estate. With a little bit of planning you can guarantee that your loved ones will inherit your property.

One of the easiest ways to control the distribution of your estate is to have a will drawn up. A will is simply a list of instructions that tells the probate court how you would like your estate to be distributed. In some cases, a will may help you minimize some of the fees that may be due upon your death. But since a will is essentially a set of instructions to the probate court, it guarantees that your estate will go through probate. And probate can have some significant drawbacks.

If you want more control over the distribution of your property, you may want to consider using a trust. A trust is a three-party arrangement whereby the owner of the property (the trustor or grantor) transfers title to the property to a second party (the trustee) for the benefit of a third party (the beneficiary). The trustee is responsible for managing the property for the beneficiary, according to the terms spelled out in the trust agreement. If you set up a trust properly you can avoid probate.

You can also exercise control over your estate simply by the way you hold title to your assets. If you own property jointly with someone else -- for example, if the paperwork shows that you are “joint tenants, with right of survivorship” -- when you die, your ownership in the property will be transferred to the other joint owner, even if you don’t have a will or a trust.

Another way to transfer ownership without using a will or a trust is by using contracts. If you own a life insurance policy, an annuity, an IRA, or if you participate in a company-sponsored retirement plan, the contract for that account usually names the beneficiary who will take ownership of the account upon your death. Because the contract specifies your chosen beneficiary, there is no need to send the account through probate.

Disclaimer: The discussion in this column may or may not match your individual situation. Be careful not to treat this column as specific legal advice, as it may not meet your individual needs. It may give you a solid basis for discussion with your own attorney. You should consult with your personal attorney before you take any action on this or any legal issue. Also, please be aware that laws change, so this column is valid only as of the date it was published. This communication does not create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the reader.