The controversial conservatorship California case of Britney Spears is back in the news cycle, with her continued efforts to reclaim control over her life after her conservatorship began in 2008. Regardless of how you might feel about that case – even after the fact that conservatorships are a matter of public record, it’s still very
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Trusts serve to transfer assets from one person to another with certain special benefits and privileges that might not otherwise be available. For example, outright gifting property to a loved one would incur a massive tax on their part and severely cut into your own gift tax exemptions. In addition, transferring a home to a
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When we die, we leave something behind for our loved ones to inherit. The basics of how inheritance law works remain the same throughout the United States. Our property and assets are distributed to our loved ones. Certain documents prepared before death (also known as an estate plan) can further specify how we want our
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It’s never been easier to get things done online than today, given that there’s an app for nearly everything. But there are still a few cases where it’s a good idea to forego convenience for the sake of quality. Estate plans are one of these things. While it may be tempting to give online estate
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Most inheritance plans that revolve around preserving and growing generational wealth fail. This is partly because most estate plans do not adequately prepare the living for the intents and wishes of the dead. Time and time again, heirs and beneficiaries lament their parents’ lack of proper communication and planning and struggle to effectively manage the
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An enhanced life estate deed, also known as Lady Bird Deed, is a way to transfer property after death without having said property go through the probate process. This type of deed has its distinct advantages and certain disadvantages. To understand it, we must review what a life estate is – and how an enhanced
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Estate planning is the management of assets for their eventual reallocation after death. Under most circumstances, we can’t take the things we own to the grave – or at least, we can take very little to the grave. You might request to be buried in your car, for example – but most assets (and properties,
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The probate process is a step-by-step administration of a person’s estate or the assets and belongings they leave after death. Most probate courts also legitimize and assign an executor to a person’s last will and testament, tasking them with managing, evaluating, and distributing a decedent’s belongings after taking care of their final debts and financial
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Most divorce cases take months, if not years, to resolve. And when they do finally end, you will be left with a stack of important documents – some of which seemingly, and confusingly, fulfill a similar purpose. One of these documents is your final decree of divorce. This is a so-called court document, which means
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Estate plans and many of the basic legal terms ascribed to them date back to the archaic early days of English probate law, from Judeo-Christian primogeniture to the Wills Act of 1837. Since then, the basic principles of estate planning have barely changed, and while some terms are newer than others, most of them remain
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