It's never too soon to start making plans for the future, including what will happen when you pass. If you're like most people, you have assets that you want to have divided up after you pass. If you have a will, you might think that your assets will pass smoothly to your beneficiaries. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily the case. There's always a chance that someone will dispute your will, which could result in costly estate litigation. If you're worried that someone will dispute your will after you pass, there are steps you can take right now to reduce that risk. Here are three of those steps. 

Give Your Assets Away

Estate planning is never an easy process, especially when you suspect that one of your loved one's might dispute the will. Loved ones may dispute the way the estate is divided. Or they may dispute the will when they don't receive something that they thought they were entitled to. One way to avoid the dispute is to give away your possessions before you pass. Take the time to gift any of your belongings that you think might create a dispute. That way, you can control the process and reduce the risk of dispute.

Enter Into Joint Ownership

If all of your property is held in individual ownership, it's time to make some changes. This is especially important if you want ownership to pass smoothly to another party. When property is held in individual ownership, you run the risk that your estate will be disputed once you pass. An easy way to reduce the potential for dispute is to place those belongings in joint ownership, or joint tenancy. Property that is held in joint ownership will pass directly to the other owner. This reduces the risk that your estate will enter into dispute litigation. 

Separate the Life Insurance

If you have debts, and you're worried that a creditor will come after your assets once you've passed, take a close look at your life insurance policies. Once you pass, creditors can come after your estate as a way to satisfy your debts. Unfortunately, anything listed in your estate is fair game for creditors once you've passed away. If you want to ensure that your loved ones have access to funds that won't fall prey to creditors, keep your life insurance policies separate from the estate. Proceeds from life insurance policies can't be litigated during a will dispute.