Probate

After your death, your estate may enter probate, administering your assets based on the law and your wishes documented in your will or other legal documents. As the process begins, the court will appoint someone as your estate's representative or executor. This person...

Losing a loved one is a painful experience, but it also brings about a number of administrative tasks. You’ll likely have to arrange the funeral, notify other family members and friends, and settle your loved one’s estate. The fact that the decedent chose you as...

Many people turn to estate planning to reduce costs associated with probate, the process wherein the court distributes a decedent’s assets to their heirs. Living trusts are among the most useful for this purpose among the different estate planning tools. What are the...

Probate is a complex and extensive process that can cost a deceased’s surviving heirs time, money and energy. Fortunately, there are ways to speed up an estate distribution, one of which is to identify which assets must go through probate and which are exempt. How...

The probate process can last months or sometimes even more than a year depending on how many assets someone has and the claims against their estate. The representative of the estate has to fulfill certain tasks during probate, such as filing a tax return and repaying...

If you’re the executor of an estate, you may not have anticipated that one of your challenges might be having to track down a missing heir or other beneficiary. However, that can happen if the contact information the deceased person had for one of their extended or...

Many older adults choose to spend their golden years in Florida. They sell their home in another state to move full-time to the Sunshine State, or they travel back and forth between another residence and their Florida home. When someone officially moves to Florida or...

If someone who trusts you names you as their executor, personal representative or trustee for their estate, you will have to manage their assets and legacy after they die. For many Americans, the home will be their biggest asset and something they want to share with...