Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS) is a common legal method of defining property ownership when shared with another person, but it doesn’t replace a will...
Archive - August 2019
Often they are, but a court is not bound by these provisions and might overrule them if there was a specific reason to do so or a justifiable challenge to the...
For federal and state tax purposes, death triggers two events: (1) It ends the decedent’s last tax year for purposes of filing an income tax return, and, (2) It...
Generally not. Just as you “can’t take it with you” you just can’t make others responsible for your general debts, at least without their consent. (Otherwise a person...
Creditors are notified of the death as part of the probate process. This notification process can vary from state-to-state and can range from a letter to each creditor...
One approach to reduce or eliminate the need for probate is through the use of a Living Trust that holds legal title to some or all of your property at the time of your...
The first place to check is with the probate court in the County of the State where the deceased lived. In almost every case the Will, if filed, will be available to the...
A “contest” is usually mounted by the filing of the necessary documents with the probate court by an heir, prospective heir or another beneficiary. Each state has...
Most of the challenges to invalidate Wills are by potential heirs or beneficiaries who got little or nothing. Questions on the validity of a Will must be filed in...
If someone files an objection to the Will or produces another Will, what is known as a “Will contest” has begun. While Will contests are not that rare, and while few...
