Things to do when someone dies
Get a legal pronouncement of death If your loved one died in a hospital or nursing home where a doctor was present, the staff will handle this. An official declaration of death is the first step to getting a death certificate, a critical piece of paperwork. But if your relative died at home, especially if […]
Role of a Probate Lawyer
As the old saying goes, you can’t take it with you when you die. But a probate lawyer can help surviving family members settle your debts and distribute your assets after you’re gone, with or without a will. What Is a Probate Lawyer? Probate lawyers help executors of the estate (or “administrators,” if there is […]
What if the Executor does not Probate the Will
If you’ve been appointed as executor of someone’s estate, you’re tasked with filing the will and opening a probate case when that individual passes away. But what happens if you do not probate a will? Perhaps you’ve changed your mind about serving as executor or you simply have other, more pressing priorities to manage. You […]
Are Probate Records Online?
You may want to know if a loved one’s estate has been settled after their death or perhaps you just found out that a family member passed away some time ago. If you are looking for information about the estate of a decedent, especially if you may be one of the heirs, you can often […]
Need to File a Probate
What is Probate Probate is the term for a legal process in which a will is reviewed to determine whether it is valid and authentic. Probate also refers to the general administering of a deceased person’s will or the estate of a deceased person without a will. Probate is a legal process that administers the […]
What Assets are subject to Probate
Probate is the process where a court oversees the property management of a deceased person to ensure that all their debts are paid and that their remaining properties are transferred to the appropriate parties. In some cases, probate is required regardless of whether the deceased has left a will. That said, not all of a […]
Revocable Living Trust can help your Heirs avoid Probate
Probate can be a long, arduous, and costly process especially in states that aren’t considered probate-friendly. Enter a workaround that is being used by an increasing number of people: revocable living trusts. Like a will, a revocable living trust allows you to determine how your property is distributed when you die. Trust owners can also […]
Britney Spears Conservatorship
Britney Spears Conservatorship: Guardianship and Conservatorship 101 Britney Spears, an outstanding pop female singer hits headlines with her controversial conservatorship program. She has been having her father Jamie Spear as the conservator since 2008 when she was declared mental ill. Britney Spear has not been comfortable in this arrangement leading to the appointment by the […]
Does a 401K go through Probate ?
A 401(k) plan is a tax-advantaged, defined-contribution retirement account offered by many employers to their employees. It is named after a section of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Workers can make contributions to their 401(k) accounts through automatic payroll withholding, and their employers can match some or all of those contributions. The investment earnings in […]
How Long Does It Takes to Settle and Estate
The honest answer is similar to that of “How long is a piece of thread?” No two estate are identical even though superficially they may appear to have little similarities. As a rule of thumb, smaller and/ or less complicated estates are wound up far more faster than large or complicated estates, but this is […]