I just got finished reading another online post about a living trust plan going wrong. The decedent had used Legal Zoom to create his legal trust plan. According to the post, the decedent had sent form letters provided by Legal Zoom to his banks and financial institutions to change the title of his assets to [...]
I was just reading a question on a legal question-and-answer website about contesting a living trust. The inheritance for the beneficiary of the trust had been significantly reduced, and the questioner wanted to know who pays for attorney’s fees and costs in an unsuccessful contest. I felt I should write about this because there can [...]
I was just reading on a legal website about how an uncle held a power of attorney over the deceased grandmother, and now the uncle is excluding certain family members from attending the grandmother's funeral. It sounds like that family had some major issues with one another to get to the point that one family [...]
Many of you may have heard about California allowing property owners to designate a “Transfer on Death” designation to automatically transfer ownership of a piece of real property as of January 1, 2016. This new “Transfer on Death” deed works a lot like a “Payable on Death” designation on a bank or other financial account [...]
I remember a few years ago when I was a third-year law student, I put together a very basic estate plan for myself. I went over to a relative’s house to have my will witnessed, and the relative asked why I was preparing a will and estate documents. It was a good question, as I [...]
What does an executor do? I get this question a lot from people who are curious about what an executor of an estate does especially if the decedent's estate will need to be probated. An executor is a person nominated in someone's will who is in charge of finalizing or finishing out the decedent’s business [...]
Modest estates that use a small estate affidavit can save a family and beneficiaries time and money by avoiding the probate process of transferring title of small assets, particularly assets such as bank accounts and other personal property less than $50,000. However, beneficiaries need to be careful about using small estate affidavits, as they have [...]
I have seen this question a lot. A loved one creates a Durable Power of Attorney in the case of incapacity so a family member can handle the financial affairs of the incapacitated principal. The agent to act may come into my office saying the loved one did not prepare a living trust or even [...]
Can I modify the terms of a living trust? I run across this question a lot in my office and online from spouses and children of families who have created living trusts to protect their families and assets. The short answer is this: It depends. Let’s look at some ways a living trust can be [...]
I have seen this question very often lately: When do I need to present my creditor’s claim to the personal representative in a probate administration? The answer, like all things law-related, is that it depends! For estates going through probate, creditors generally must submit their claims within either 120 days after the date the first [...]
