There are many responsibilities that fall to the personal representative of someone's estate. Their job includes securing property, presenting financial and estate documents to the probate courts and even paying off debts on behalf of the estate. Debts owed by the...
As a parent who is working on your estate plan, there is one thing that you need to consider above all else: how to protect your children. There are estate planning tools that will help you protect your kids if you are suddenly incapacitated or pass away, and those...
You never expected to lose a parent so early in your life. Being a relatively young adult, you thought that you’d have your parents with you for much longer. Since both have now passed away, you weren’t surprised that you had been named the executor of the estate....
Becoming a parent is frequently the reason why people choose to create estate plans. They worry that their children will be vulnerable if anything ever happens to them, so they take action to offset some of those risks. Whether you just learned about a pregnancy or...
Despite a significant increase in their popularity in recent years, prenuptial agreements still carry a significant amount of social stigma. People tend to associate a prenuptial agreement with one spouse trying to gain the upper hand over the other or a couple...
Many people have prized animals that they keep as both pets and assets. They may have a dog that is a national dog show winner or an animal that has taken the internet by storm and gained unimaginable fame. When you have a pet that is so valuable to you, it’s a good...
The person who serves as the administrator of an estate has many different responsibilities. They need to locate and secure the assets of the estate. They have to notify beneficiaries and creditors about probate proceedings. They have to file paperwork with the...
You share almost every aspect of your life with your spouse, so divorce will mean major upheaval for both of you. Once you sort out how to split up your property and handle matters involving any children that you share, you likely want to put the marriage behind you...
When you are looking into estate planning, one of the things you should remember is that it’s not all about passing on your assets. Certain parts of your estate plan are there to help protect your best interests and to make sure you’re cared for the way you want to be...
Many people feel that having a will is enough to help their family avoid probate after their death, but that isn’t necessarily the truth. A will doesn’t necessarily avoid probate, though it may make probate faster and easier. If you want to avoid probate, you need to...