Estate Planning
Estate planning comprises a meticulous process that undertakes planning for situations where a person wouldn’t be able to make their own decisions due to a disability or in the case of their passing. The term estate refers to the property one might own; both tangible and intangible. Your property could be hard cash, bank accounts, property, cars, jewelry, insurance, retirement, investments, savings, etc.
Bequeathing assets to heirs / beneficiaries or an institution and planning for incapacity remain main reasons for planning. However, that’s not all estate planning is limited to. Under this umbrella term, there are various other details that can be defined and elaborated.
Estate planning allows you to:
- Protect assets
- Medicaid planning
- Designate a guardian for a minor child
- Designate a healthcare proxy that can make medical decisions on your behalf
- Use it for Medicaid planning for long-term care
- Document end-of-life preferences
You also decide on a power of attorney that can make financial decisions and carry out tasks such as paying bills, settling debt, legal or business decisions, and manage an investment portfolio. When carried out with an estate planning attorney, it can be used to reduce or eliminate taxes.
Here you’ll find yourself perusing through a plethora of articles that could be your resource when you’re learning what planning is all about. You can begin by understanding the bare bones of planning and make your way up, studying different types of planning tools, what mistakes to avoid, what myths to not believe, and more.
If you are reading this article, it is safe to assume that you are trying to avoid probate, or the official validation of a will. For individuals attempting to avoid the frustrating process of probate, a revocable living trust can be a viable option. Revocable living trusts are particularly useful in a handful of states…
The term, “probate” is scary for many people. They immediately think of courts taking away property or other horror stories that have been misinterpreted over time. The simple definition of probate is the legal process courts use to confirm a Last Will is valid, settle the estate’s debts, and then distribute the assets. A Long…
The term probate gets thrown around quite often. It goes hand in hand with estate planning, but do you know what it means? This article will discuss the basics of probate and acts as a stellar introduction to the important concept. Defining Probate By definition, probate is the legal process of proving a will and…
In this article, we will discuss the positives and negatives of the probate process. Many people automatically dismiss the probate process because they only possess knowledge of the negatives it entails, but being aware of the potential benefits can help with your understanding and outlook on probate. When people hear the word probate, negative…
Scenario Tony was allocated his parents’ assets when he was in a foreign country and was elated because he realized his parents loved him so much. A few months after the will was read out, he traveled back to New York only to get the shock of his life – the executor, Martin, had sold…
Losing somebody close to you is a hard time for many people. It becomes more difficult when you have to navigate the probate process while grieving. Many people that go through the probate period have admitted that they develop stress conditions; some even become depressed. Due to this, many people resort to working with a…
If you are new to the probate process in New York, you have many questions you need answers to. Today, we look at the sample questions regarding legal issues that clients ask time and again and give you solutions to help you handle probate cases that come up in the future. If you need answers…
An administrator of an estate is tasked with a lot of responsibility when it comes to distributing the estate of an individual. When an administrator knows that the estate has gone to probate, the first step is to notify the beneficiaries of the development. He sends out a notice telling the parties involved that the…
As estate planning lawyers, we come across so many questions from clients. One of the most common questions we get is, “where can I find a copy of the will or all the records concerned with the case?” The good thing is that probate is a public process, which means that the records are available…
The need for legal representation has made the search for a lawyer to become generic – people now look for any lawyer with just enough legal expertise and think they have the best person to work for them – wrong.If you have received a notice of probate to be an executor, hire a lawyer early…