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Am I Qualified To Be the Executor Of an Estate?

One of the things that someone who has developed a will may be asked to do is name an executor of their estate. The executor of the estate has the privileged job of protecting the property of the deceased until debts and taxes have been paid and transferring what is left to the beneficiaries. Being chosen as the executor of an estate is an immense ...
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Should You Use a Payable-On-Death Account?

Probate planning involves the distribution of your property and assets in the event that you pass away. You may be familiar with some of the basics of probate planning, such as developing a will that can determine possessions for your loved ones, or establishing a trust that determines how property left to others must be spent. There are many ...
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Do I Need a Revocable Living Trust?

A revocable living trust is one tool that is available for those planning their estates. It is used to determine who gets certain property in the event that the property holder dies. These types of trusts have the ability to be altered as circumstances change. Additionally, they are made during the person's lifetime, so they act as a living ...
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How to Avoid Probate with Joint Ownership

In many instances, a married couple will own property together, which is known as joint property. What happens to this married property when one person dies? Some property may go through the probate process when their first owner dies, but there are a number of ways to avoid the probate process with joint property. Types of Joint Ownership ...
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Challenging a Will May Not Be Best

If you feel as though you did not receive the proper levels of compensation from a loved one in the estate administration process, it is possible to challenge the will. Challenging the will can be done if you can prove that the will was not legally developed, the person writing the will was not mentally capable of making the decisions they made on ...
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Do I Need a Revocable Living Trust?

A revocable living trust is one tool that is available for those planning their estates. It is used to determine who gets certain property in the event that the property holder dies. These types of trusts have the ability to be altered as circumstances change. Additionally, they are made during the person's lifetime, so they act as a living ...
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Tips to Avoid the Probate Process

The purpose of probate is to legally wrap up a person's financial affairs after their death. For those that have not designated a specific individual to control their finances, their estate will go to the court. The court will collect all their property, pay off appropriate debts from that property, and distribute the remaining property ...
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How to Protect a Minor's Inheritance

Estate plans can oftentimes include provisions that give minors a share of the inheritance. Leaving significant money to an underage person comes with its own set of concerns, including how to ensure that the child will benefit from the money or that they will not squander the money as soon as they are able to access the inheritance. Leaving a ...
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Why Digital Media Should Be Considered in Probate

The past fifteen years have opened up a common problem in probate courts concerning what happens with a person's digital asset ownership after their death. While pressure is put on a person to ensure that their property and assets are taken care of, digital assets can go overlooked. What are digital assets? Digital assets are pictures on ...
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Avoid Transferring Debt After Death

The purpose of a will is to ensure that a person's loved ones are taken care of in the event of their passing. But if a person has more debts than assets, can death transfer debts and cause financial issues for loved ones? Will Debt Be Transferred? Many financial debts will not be passed off to a person's loved ones, but there are some that ...
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Keeping the Family Home Out of Probate

Probate is the process that occurs after a person has died that basically administers their estate through court proceedings. Their property and debts are assessed, taxes paid accordingly, and assets are distributed according to the will. The home is one such piece of property that will be considered in a probate court. Depending on outstanding ...
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Robin Williams Chose to Use a Trust. Should You?

The recent passing of beloved actor Robin Williams has shed light on the importance of having an estate plan in place. With three different marriages and three children, Williams' estate could be considerably complicated. However, Williams opted to utilize a revocable trust for his estate, allowing him to cut down on confusion and clearly ...
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Probate Judge Approves Sale of the Los Angeles Clippers

A probate judge rejected Donald Sterling's claims that his estranged wife Shelly Sterling conspired with her attorney's to remove him from a family trust that owned the Los Angeles Clippers. This move allowed former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to buy the team for $2 billion. Probate Court Issues Surrounding the Sale After racial comments ...
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Old or Ill? Draft Your Estate Plan Before It's Too Late

When it comes to the future protection of your loved ones and your hard-earned assets, it is never too soon to begin planning. Unexpected events happen in life all the time, and you wouldn't want your family and assets to be unaccounted for if something were to suddenly happen, leading to you passing away or becoming incapacitated. As you age, ...
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What Is Living Probate?

There are two different senses in which "living probate" can be used. One definition refers to conservatorship proceedings. In some states, if someone becomes incapacitated, the court might choose a guardian or conservator who will manage the incapacitated individual's care, finances, etc. If you create a living trust, however, you ...
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How Quiet Titles Can Clear Up Estate Plan Issues

Do you believe you have a right to property that you inherited? Does another party, possible a potential buyer or a company with a lien on the property, think otherwise? If so, you may be able to clear up the disagreements with the help of a quiet title. A quiet title is a type of lawsuit where a property owner enforces his or her right to be the ...
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Is a Joint Will a Good Idea?

A joint last will is a single document shared by two people, a last will and testament that leaves all the pair's possessions to one another. A joint will is usually created by a married couple, so after both spouses die, the joint will says everything goes to their children. This would be true even if the surviving spouse remarried, ensuring ...
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What Is an Ethical Will?

Unlike a last will and testament, which is legally enforceable, an "ethical will" is a letter that you can write and leave to your family or friends when you pass away. Normally, individuals create ethical wills to transmit values, love, and life lessons to their family or their community. These ethical wills are also known as ...
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About Inheritance Rights

What happens if you don't have a will? What happens if a close relative wants to challenge the terms in your will? Depending on your state's laws, certain relatives could have a claim on a portion of your property, regardless of what your will says. Specifically, a surviving spouse and children could have a claim to more than is laid out ...
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Estate Planning and Your Second Marriage

If you are in your second marriage, you will want to be careful when you are planning for the future of your estate. Oftentimes, individual that have been previously married have certain policies in their former spouses' name. Also, people that are on their second marriage may have kids from a first marriage that they want to give some of their ...
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Finding a Loved One's Last Will & Testament

When a loved one passes away, and it is time to take care of the estate, one needs to find their last will and testament and file it with the probate court. This task goes to the executor of the will, only, the executor is named in the will. So finding the will is the very first step that must be taken, and whoever finds it should hand it to ...
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Relocating and the Complications of Estate Planning

If you create an estate planning and then move to another state, it could present complications. Relocating often creates issues with estate planning and people wonder if they need to create a new will or trust when they move to another location. Normally, a solid will can hold up in any state, but it is still wise to have the estate planning ...
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Deciding Who Will Be Your Health Care Agent

Depending on the state, your health care agent could be titled an attorney-in-fact, a health care proxy, or a surrogate. A person's health care agent is usually his or her spouse, partner, family member, or close friend, someone they can have complete confidence in. After all, in order to create a durable power of attorney for health care, you ...
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Estate Planning Objectives for Married Couples

If you are married, estate planning has direct implications on the future of your spouse. It is important to know what your objectives are in an estate planning in order to best reach them. One of the most important things you can do in an estate planning situation is to provide for loved ones. You want to make sure that your spouse and children ...
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The First Steps an Executor Must Take

In the intense aftermath of a loved one's passing, not only does an executor have to cope with their grief, but they also have the funeral or memorial service to arrange, plus numerous other tasks. Here is a basic description to help outline these responsibilities, and don't forget that there are people around you that you can rely on for ...
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