Do You Have to Go through Probate When Someone Dies?
The law requires probate for a good reason. If a person dies, probate ensures that the property goes to the people who are supposed to inherit it.
Does Your Will and Estate Planning Documents Need to Be Updated?
It’s generally recommended that you review your will and other end-of-life documents at least every few years, although there can be reasons to do a checkup more often.
Why are Siblings Battling over Mom’s Estate?
A 14-year-long legal fight among five siblings over a Queens woman’s estate has gotten so nasty that it landed two elderly sisters in jail, and now one of them may lose her home.
Write a Letter of Instruction for Loved Ones
Executors can use additional information in administering estates, especially if the executor is unrelated to the decedent.
What Legal Terms in Estate Planning do Non-Lawyers Need to Know?
For most people, entering the realm of estate planning can feel a bit like traveling as a tourist into another culture. Because the language itself is unfamiliar, asking a question can result in an answer that is equally confusing.
What are the Most Common Estate Planning Mistakes?
With apologies to poet Robert Burns, the best-laid estate plans of women and men sometimes go awry.
What’s the Difference between Probate Assets and Non-Probate Assets?
Non-probate assets are those assets which do not go into an estate when the owner dies.
Storing Passwords in Case of Death
Deborah Placet had no idea how to access her husband’s cryptocurrency and other digital accounts after his unexpected death at age 52.
Update on Transfer Taxes for 2022
Despite the various proposals to lower federal transfer tax (estate, gift and GST taxes) exemptions and increase the tax rates, none of them were enacted in 2021.
What’s the First Step in Estate Planning?
For young professionals finding their way in the world and just beginning the journey of building wealth, death can seem like a far-off abstraction. However, the cold reality is that no one ever knows what’s around the corner — health problems and freak accidents can happen at virtually any time.
