Trusts are excellent vehicles for managing and moving wealth between individuals, both in life and death. But setting up a trust is not quite as simple as drafting and notarizing a will. Continue reading for an in-depth analysis of a joint trust vs. separate trust. There are several moving parts, agreements, and conditions to consider …
Contesting a will is not easy, nor is it something one should consider lightly. As a document, a last will and testament constitutes a person’s final set of instructions on how their belongings should be distributed in death. You will need a solid legal basis to contest such a document, especially if it can be …
The purpose of probate is to facilitate the distribution of a decedent’s assets among the living. However, it is rarely as simple as taking everything a person ever owned and giving it to someone else wholesale. Read on for a look into how the value of assets in probate is determined. There are processes involved, …
Any property transfer in California may require filing a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report. For most people, this report is needed whenever real estate is transferred from one person to the next, even if only partially. An interest in real estate must be reported to the state for tax appraisal purposes. All 58 counties in …
Probate is the process by which your local legal authority processes and administrates the management of a person’s belonging after death. Ownership must transfer to the living, whether personal effects or investments, properties, assets, and other items. Read on for an in-depth analysis of the cost of probate in California. However, while we can use …
Here is a shocking number: there is over $49 billion in the unclaimed property sitting around in the United States today. This number includes everything from unclaimed refunds and last paychecks to entire homes, investment properties, and abandoned parcels. What happens to all of that property? And how did it get there in the first …
Homeownership represents the unattainable ideal for many millennials and younger Americans today. Between record-high housing costs, inflation, and stagnating wages, the dream of owning a place you can call home might seem exceedingly distant. However, if that home could somehow be split between multiple parties, a distant dream can quickly become a realistic prospect. One …
Forced heirship is a concept or legal stipulation that involves leaving a mandated portion of your estate to an heir. In other words, forced heirship implies that it is illegal to disown or disinherit certain heirs without precedence. The concept of forced heirship stems from civil law, a largely European legal system derived from Roman …
Let’s assume you have written and finalized your will and double-checked your accounts. You’ve specified your designations and talked to your family about certain medical decisions and financial responsibilities. Let’s say you have your affairs in order but want to make the funerary costs and final arrangements a little less hefty in your loved ones’ …
How do you ensure that your belongings are properly distributed between your friends and family after death? A common answer is to use a will – but what sort of property can and cannot be distributed via a will? Also, how does a will choose and bequeath an inheritance, and how do you go about …