Estate Planning

The wise plan their estate even at the early stages of their life, while the unwise is ignorant of the importance of estate planning.  By creating an estate plan, you can dictate how your estate will be managed and distributed after your death or incapacitation. Failing to plan your estate while alive may be one of the biggest mistakes you will ever make. As soon as you get to the age of 18, you are eligible to plan your estate. So you shouldn’t wait till you become as rich as Jeff Bezos or become very old before you plan your estate. Just so you know, estate planning is for everyone: the rich and the poor.

If you die without an estate plan, you will have yourself to blame and your family may not forgive your for that because of the hardship you may subject them to for failing to plan your estate. Your estate will be managed and distributed based on the intestate law of your state should you decide or forget to plan your estate while alive.

What is a Will?

A will is a significant aspect of an estate plan. This legal document hold some important content regarding the distribution of your estate. A will contains the names of an estate beneficiaries, the name of the estate executor, the assets of the deceased, including how the deceased wants his or her assets to be distributed among the designated beneficiaries.

Before the beneficiaries become the new owner of the deceased estate, the will of the deceased will have to undergo a process known as probate. Irrespective of if you make a will or not, your estate will still undergo probate.

What is Probate?

People dread the probate process because it cost money, it can be stressful, and it takes a long time. You can actually escape the probate process by creating a trust. Also, not all your assets will have to undergo probate process. For instance, in California, about $10,000 of your property can be excluded from the probate process. This amount varies for each state.

Probate is a process that is done to determine the validity of a will, to settle the taxes and unpaid debts of the deceased, to determine the value of the deceased property, among other things. The probate process is often done in the probate court and the estate executor or administrator is the one who acts on behalf of the estate owner. It is the job of the executor to locate all unpaid taxes and debts of the deceased and pay them all, it is the executor’s job to tender the necessary paper works to the probate court, it is also the job of the executor to manage the estate of the deceased while the probate process is on. If you die without an estate, the probate court will select who will act on your behalf; this individual is often regarded as an estate administrator because it is his or her duty to administer the estate of the deceased.

The probate court usually select a close relative or someone who inherits a huge chunk of the deceased estate.

What is the Job of a Probate Attorney?

When a person passes on, his or her estate can’t be transferred to a next of kin, a brother or the surviving spouse without following due process. The transfer of asset will have to be done in a way that adheres to the laws of the state and also the will of the deceased.

Because probate process can be complicated and stressful, it is the duty of the probate lawyer to guide the estate executor or beneficiaries through the probate process. This can make the process a little easier thanks to the experience and expertise of the probate attorney.

Probate Attorney New York

If you reside in New York and you require the help of a probate attorney, we can provide you with one. We have the best probate attorneys, those capable of offering you the best advice and guide during the probate process.