Your guide on understanding and avoiding probate, including ancillary probate, from jointly titling assets, to making accounts payable on death (POD), to establishing and funding a revocable living trust. Or, if you've been appointed to serve as the personal representative of a loved one's estate, then learn the steps necessary to complete probate and the fees and costs of probate proceedings.
Probate is the court-supervised process of locating and determining the value of a deceased person's assets, paying the deceased person's final bills and taxes, and then distributing what's left to the deceased person's heirs.
A frequent question I'm asked as an estate planning attorney is "When is probate really necessary?" As with many estate planning questions, the answer depends upon the specific laws of the state where you live at the time of your death, as well as the laws of any other state where you own real estate. Here is a general list of reasons why an estate will need to be probated.
If you don't have an estate plan or have failed to completely fund your Revocable Living Trust, then your loves ones will be faced with probating some or all of your assets. The overall cost of probate will vary depending upon the type and value of the property that's being probated.
One of the first questions I'm asked when I sit down with the Personal Representative of a new estate is "How long is probate going to take?" The answer depends upon many factors.
There are two common and simple ways to avoid probate: using joint accounts and using payable on death accounts, also called transfer on death accounts.
Another common way to avoid probate is to establish and fund a Revocable Living Trust.
Owning real estate or tangible personal property in several different states will pose a unique challenge when planning your estate. This is because the laws of the state where the property is physically located will govern what will happen to the property after you die, not the laws of the state where you live at the time of your death. This, in turn, will lead to ancillary probate.
If you fail to make a Last Will and Testament before you die, then your estate will be divided up based on the intestacy laws of the state where you live at the time of your death and the intestacy laws of any other state where you own real estate and/or tangible personal property.
In general, there are eight steps that should be taken in order to open a probate estate with the appropriate state court, but some of the steps can be skipped if the decedent didn't leave a Last Will and Testament or left a pile of papers to sort through. Learn what these steps are and how someone gets appointed to serve as a Personal Representative/Executor.
In conjunction with my step by step guide on how to open a probate estate, here is a convenient checklist of the 8 steps involved in opening a probate estate.
Most people have little experience dealing with what happens after their loved one dies and they get appointed as Personal Representative/Executor to settle the estate. The purpose of this guide is to provide a general overview of the 6 steps required to probate an estate.
In conjunction with my step by step guide on how to probate an estate, here is a convenient checklist of the 6 steps involved in settling an estate.
When someone dies, you've probably seen in the movies or on TV or read in a book about "the reading of the Will." Unfortunately, this is a pure theatrical device designed to create drama in a fictional story - today there's no legal requirement that a Will be read to anyone. Instead, the estate attorney has to determine who should be sent a copy of the Tesator's Will.
An estate lawyer is an attorney who, through years of mentoring, continuing legal education and experience, understands how to advise Personal Representatives/Executors and estate beneficiaries on settling all of the affairs of a deceased person.
A probate judge is the judicial official who is in charge of overseeing all aspects of probate estates in his or her jurisdiction.
A Personal Representative, also referred to as an Executor/Executrix or Administrator in some jurisdictions, is the fiduciary put in charge of settling a deceased person's estate.
What if your uncle has named you to serve as the Personal Representative of his estate, the successor Trustee of his trust or his preneed Guardian? And what if your uncle becomes incapacitated or dies and his attorney contacts you to let you know about your appointment, but your really don't want to serve or simply don't have the time? What next?
If you've been appointed to serve as the Personal Representative or Executor of an estate, then in most cases you'll be entitled to get paid for the services you provide on behalf of the estate. How much you'll receive and when you'll receive it depends upon many factors.
There are only three ways to own property - in your individual name, in joint names with others, or by contract rights. Here you'll find a summary of what each type of ownership means for you and your family.
Non probate assets are simply assets that won't need to be probated after you die. But will they be included in the value of your estate for estate tax purposes? Find out.
When a deceased person's estate owns certain types of assets, called probate assets, then the estate will be subject to a probate court proceeding in order to get the probate assets out of the deceased person's name and into the names of the rightful heirs. Here you will find a description of the three different types of probate assets.
If your loved one has died and the medical and credit card bills have started piling up, then you'll need to understand who will be responsible for paying off all of these debts and in what amounts. Learn who has to pay and how much.
If your loved one has died and a probate estate will be required, then you'll need to understand how your loved one's final bills and other debts will be handled before and during the probate process. Learn who will be responsible for paying the bills and when.
When it comes to creating a Last Will and Testament, it's very important for you to observe all of the formalities required by the laws of your state in order to make the Last Will legally valid and binding on your heirs.
After someone dies, the surviving family members will need to gather up all of the decedent's important papers. This will give the family members and/or attorney who will be assisting with settling the decedent's final affairs all of the pertinent information needed to complete the settlement process. Here's the list of documents that will be needed to settle an estate or trust.
