After a loved one has passed away and the funeral has been held, the task of sorting through their personal belongings begins. The question of what to do with a loved one’s remaining possessions is one that every family faces. Some items, like trinkets and personal effects, may be given away to family or friends. Others, including medical equipment, can be sold or donated to charity. From eyeglasses and hearing aids to wheelchairs and at-home hospital beds, there are options for giving used medical equipment a second life.

Although having a will is a good basic form of planning, a will does not avoid probate. Instead, a will simply lets you inform the probate court of your wishes—your loved ones still have to go through the probate process to make those wishes legal. Learn the top 3 reasons why you might want to avoid probate.

One would assume that celebrities with extreme wealth would take steps to protect their estates. But think again: some of the world’s richest and most famous people enter the pearly gates with no estate plan, while others have made estate planning mistakes that tied up their fortunes and heirs in court for years. Let us look at three high-profile celebrity probate disasters and discover what lessons we can learn from them.

At the end of the day, probate serves as a default system to ensure the fair distribution of even small amounts of money and property. However, probate can create undue cost and delays. For that reason, many people prefer to use strategies to keep their property out of probate when they die. Learn the pros and cons of probate.