an estate going into probate is a hassle that ties up the deceased’s money and makes it difficult to put all his or her affairs in order in a timely manner. When a personal home or piece of land is on the line, this is a great moment to talk with your family and determine how...
First and foremost the executor will have to set up an estate bank account, and all proceeds from probate will go through this account. If you are the executor, this should be the first order of business. This account will be kept separate from the accounts of any other surviving relatives...
Probate court is the legal process of distributing someone's estate after they've passed away. This guide will walk you through how it works and what you should expect.
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An executor is a person appointed in a will to settle an estate. However, if a probate estate is opened for someone who has no will, the person appointed by the court to settle the estate is called an administrator. What is a trust beneficiary?
If you’re planning ahead, you can avoid probate by opening aninter vivos trustduring your lifetime and transferring assets into it for your future heirs.Trustsare managed and distributed separately from probate according to their own term, which makes them a useful estate planning tool. ...
The joint account must be established while the senior still has "legal capacity" to enter into a contract, meaning that they understand and appreciate the consequences of their decisions and actions. Joint brokerage accounts can also bypass probate as long as there is either an ownership ...
Avoid a lengthy probate court process. This last point is a crucial one, as trusts also allow you to pass on assets quickly and privately. In contrast, settling an estate through a traditional will may trigger the probate court process — in which a judge, not your children or other benefi...
The life estate deed within a life estate is a document that grants the owner the ability to pass on ownership of a property without including it in a will as part of their estate assets. The property doesn't have to go throughprobate, the court process that's used to distribute bequest...
When a person dies without a will, he is said to have died intestate. Anintestate estateis also one where the will presented to the court has been deemed to be invalid. The probate process for an intestate estate includes distributing the decedent’s assets according to state laws. If a d...