Estate planning requires a good bit of decision-making and the execution of certain documents that are used to legally record your wishes. This is well and good, but ultimately someone is going to have to carry out these wishes in a hands-on manner. If you use a will as your primary vehicle of asset transfer your estate is going to have to pass through probate. During this interim the probate or surrogate court in the jurisdiction that is local to you will supervise the … [Read more...] about Your Probate Attorney & Your Estate
Probate
Fundamental Probate Avoidance Strategies
In a previous post we explained some the reasons why people choose to avoid probate, but to recap there are three basic pitfalls that go along with the process. For one, probate can be costly because there are a number of expenses involved, including court costs and the fees charged by the various probate professionals whose expertise is required. In addition, probate can be time-consuming and the heirs to the estate will not receive their inheritances until the estate has been probated … [Read more...] about Fundamental Probate Avoidance Strategies
Probate: Why Do Some People Avoid It?
As you look into the topic of estate planning you will invariably see mention of probate avoidance strategies. Many newcomers to the subject don't even know what probate is, much less why they should try to avoid it, so we will provide a basic definition and take a look at the three most common reasons why people do indeed choose to avoid probate. Probate is the legal process of estate administration, and during this interim the probate or surrogate court attests to the validity of the … [Read more...] about Probate: Why Do Some People Avoid It?
Keeping It Simple: Pay On Death Accounts
There are many different financial instruments that can be used to optimize your resources, protect your assets, and prevent asset erosion during transfer to your loved ones after you pass away. Some of these are considerably complex because they have to be to respond to the realities of the tax code while satisfying any number of personal objectives. However, there is something to be said for keeping it as simple as possible in every field of endeavor, and this is true for estate … [Read more...] about Keeping It Simple: Pay On Death Accounts
Probate & Your Executor
One of the things that you have to keep in mind when you are drawing up your will is the fact that after your wishes have been recorded they have to be carried out by someone. This "someone" is called the executor, and it is important to understand the totality of what the executor is going to be charged with doing on behalf of the estate. The first thing to consider is the fact that your estate is going to have to pass through the process of probate. This is when the probate or … [Read more...] about Probate & Your Executor
Avoiding Probate: Is It The Best Choice?
When you pass away, utilizing a will as your primary vehicle of asset transfer your estate must pass through the legal process of probate. Probate provides certain protections because it ensures the court supervised administration of your estate, but there are pitfalls involved with probate as well. What are these pitfalls? Interestingly enough, one of the protections that probate provides for those who survive you can be seen as a negative by some. During the probate … [Read more...] about Avoiding Probate: Is It The Best Choice?
Is Probate Always A Bad Thing?
When you search for information about estate planning on the Internet you will invariably hear mention of probate avoidance. If you don't know much about estate planning, a two-part question is likely to formulate in your mind: what is probate and why would I try to avoid it? Let us endeavor to shed some light on the subject. Briefly put, probate could be defined as the legal process of estate administration. The probate or surrogate court is charged with the responsibility … [Read more...] about Is Probate Always A Bad Thing?
Probate Avoidance Toolkit
You hear a lot about avoiding probate, and since it is such a common topic in estate planning circles we sometimes overlook the fact that the layman may not know what probate is or why you would want to avoid. To put it very succinctly, probate is the legal process that your estate must pass through before it can be distributed to your heirs. The probate or surrogate court examines the will, determines its validity, and supervises its administration. The reasons why people try to avoid it is … [Read more...] about Probate Avoidance Toolkit
Choice Of Executor And The Probate Process
When you get interested in planning your estate and start to do some research into estate planning, you will invariably see the topic of probate mentioned quite frequently. You will often come upon strategies for avoiding probate, and there are some good reasons for doing so, but probate can serve useful purposes as well. Whether or not the probate process should be avoided would depend on the details of your estate and the specificity of your wishes. But if your estate is going to go through … [Read more...] about Choice Of Executor And The Probate Process
Ways in Which a Probate Court Works
Avoiding the eventuality of probate court can be as simple as anything else in life, but first, one must take the steps necessary in making sense of the whole situation. That would start with research in the appropriate fields, using either the internet or library sources that can easily eliminate most of the hassles maintaining the ignorant opinion, and hopefully dispel a few of those myths that could creep in to make practical wisdom seem useless. Firstly, what is a probate court, but a … [Read more...] about Ways in Which a Probate Court Works
