When planning your estate, one of the most important documents you’ll create is your will. This legal document outlines your final wishes and how you want your assets distributed after you pass away. While most people think of a will as a formal document drafted by a lawyer, you might be surprised to learn that ..read more

Creating a will is one of the most crucial steps in estate planning, as it ensures your final wishes are honored after you pass away. As life changes, however, you’ll likely need to update your will. So, what happens to the old will when you make a new one? Does your new will invalidate your ..read more

We all hope that when our children marry, their spouses will become a part of the family forever. Of course, experience tells us that that is not always the case. Sometimes there is friction between a person’s parents and their new spouse. Sometimes even marriages that seemed promising don’t work out. Many parents, especially those with significant wealth, want to ensure that their child’s inheritance is protected from their spouse. If you’ve ever thought to yourself about a son- or daughter-in-law, “They’ll get my money over my dead body,” you might actually be right. Let’s talk about child i ..read more

Creating a trust as part of your estate plan is often a wise choice—if you understand how to choose a trustee. In addition to avoiding probate, a trust can provide a host of other benefits, such as increased flexibility and control. A trust can also provide protection for assets—including beneficiaries who may not have the wisdom or impulse control to responsibly manage an inheritance on their own.  Why Choosing a Trustee Matters A living trust is one of the most popular options among various types of trusts. With a living trust, the person creating it (called the grantor, settlor, or tru ..read more

It might seem like an unlikely scenario: someone learns that they are entitled to an inheritance, and they decide not to accept it. Can you not accept an inheritance if you are named in a will or you are an heir under the law? The answer is yes, and the process is referred to in legal terms as “disclaiming an inheritance.”  While it may not be a terribly common occurrence, disclaiming an inheritance happens more often than you might think. And if you someday find yourself in a situation where you decide to not accept an inheritance, you need to understand the legal and tax implications of ..read more

Thinking about your own funeral can be kind of uncomfortable, but most of us have at least a general idea of what we would want: burial or cremation, funeral or memorial service, religious or secular. Some of us have highly specific funeral wishes. For instance, one older woman we knew wanted the church at her funeral decorated with her large collection of decorative birdhouses; at the end of the services, mourners were instructed to take a birdhouse they liked to remember her by.  Whether you have imagined every detail of your send-off, or whether this is the first time you’ve thought of ..read more

Being named as the executor of a will is both a great honor and a great responsibility. It means that someone trusted you to wrap up their final affairs and distribute their earthly goods according to their last wishes. However, an executor, also referred to as the personal representative of the estate, has a number of duties to carry out between the time the probate estate is opened and the distribution of assets. For various reasons, not everyone feels up to the task. What do you do when you realize, “I don’t want to be an executor of someone’s will?” Why Would Someone Decline to Be Executor ..read more

One of the responsibilities of the personal representative of an estate is the final distribution of estate assets to the heirs or beneficiaries of the deceased. Before a final distribution of estate assets can happen, however, there are many other steps that must be taken. If you are serving as the personal representative (also known as the executor or administrator) of a decedent’s estate, it is critical to fulfill those other responsibilities before making an estate distribution.  The probate/estate administration process can be a difficult one. Typically, the person appointed as perso ..read more

It’s true that for most people, their later years are some of the best of their life, but they also often come with increasing physical and mental challenges. Those challenges affect not only seniors themselves, but also the family members who love and care for them. Caring for aging parents is a rewarding, yet challenging experience. For your entire life, you may have experienced your parents as the strong and wise ones that you turned to for help. Now, they are counting on you.  If you are accustomed to your parents being strong and competent, it’s easy to miss the signs that they may b ..read more

As probate attorneys, one of our duties is to guide the personal representative of an estate through their many responsibilities. One of the first things a personal representative must do is identify all assets belonging to the decedent’s estate, safeguard those assets, and inventory them. That allows all interested parties to know what property is part of the estate. After the estate’s debts are paid, remaining assets are distributed to heirs or beneficiaries. But what happens if there are assets found after the estate is closed? After an estate is closed, can it be reopened? These questions ..read more