Your Will and Estate Planning Checklist
Most people should have a will, but it’s rarely the most significant estate planning document that an individual will hold.
What Does the Executor Do?
If the deceased has a will, it usually names a close relative, friend, accountant, attorney or financial institution to act as executor of the will.
What Paperwork Is Needed after Someone Dies?
While the tasks of dealing with an estate after someone passes may be simple administration, the work associated with it is often quite complicated.
What are the Stages of Probate?
Although most assets in your estate may pass through the probate process, other assets may not. It often depends on the type of asset or how an asset is titled.
Does an Estate Plan Need to Change because of the New Administration?
Now that there is a Democratic majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, estate and gift tax law changes are expected to occur in 2021 or 2022.
Is a Life Insurance Policy Beneficiary Required to Pay for a Funeral with Insurance Proceeds?
More and more often, estate beneficiaries are retaining their own attorneys to make sure that the executor properly administers the estate.
Reviewing Your Estate Plan Protects Goals, Family
Most people wish to have more control over who and how their assets are managed than what the state laws provide, and so they draft documents that can override the Laws of Intestacy, when those laws do not match their objectives.
Do We Need Estate Planning?
Everyone, regardless of financial status or age, can benefit from having an estate plan—assuming you have assets to leave and people to leave them to.
Can Unmarried Couples have an Estate Plan?
The couple needs to create an appropriate estate plan. If they truly want inheritance rights, they need to execute testamentary documents, such as wills.
How to Manage a Will and Trust
By definition, a Will accounts for a person’s wishes of how their assets and estate should be distributed and handled once they die. It spells out who should get what and who should do what, after the benefactor’s demise.