To avoid probate many families have their estate planning attorney create a trust, which is like a bucket a person or family carries through life.
While carrying the “trust bucket” they can decide what they’d like to place into it, thus “funding” the trust. They can also decide who should carry the bucket for them should they become unable to do so, and also how the assets within the bucket should be distributed when they die.
If a trust is not funded when someone dies, then the probate court must decide how to distribute any assets involved and the family will incur the costs associated.