A number of married couples think about their accounts and property as “yours, mine, and ours,” especially if either or both spouses have gotten or will be getting remarried, married late in life, or have brought or will be bringing significant amounts of money and property into the marriage. Deciding what should happen to all of […]
Last month, this blog looked at the ongoing legal drama surrounding the probate of former Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh’s estate. While that post focused on distribution of an estate when a person dies intestate (dies without a will), this post will focus on an interesting detail of the Hsieh case — namely whether Mr. Hsieh’s writings […]
Bankruptcy may be one of the last things on your mind when you are creating an estate plan. Fortunately, the number of bankruptcy filings has declined over the past several years, but there were still a whopping 544,463 bankruptcy filings in 2020.[1] What happens to your estate if you file for bankruptcy protection but die while […]
Wills and trusts are the two basic legal instruments that people use to pass accounts and property on to their loved ones at death. Although a revocable living trust is often used in place of a will, the two are not mutually exclusive. You can have both a will and a trust, and in fact, a […]
Our lives are full of everyday superstitions. Knock on wood, don’t step on sidewalk cracks, and that talking about bad things make them more likely to happen. This last one is among the most given reasons why people don’t make estate plans. “If I talk about it, then I’ll die” goes the excuse. Unfortunately, this is […]
Do you really own the home you live in? If you are currently living in a property that you inherited, but the deed has not been transferred into your name, you may be surprised to learn that, under the law, you are technically not the owner. This legal situation is known as “tangled title.” A tangled title […]
If you are trying to sell a house that you inherited, it is possible that you are considering signing an Affidavit of Heirship. An Affidavit of Heirship is an alternative to probate in Texas that is generally used when someone dies without a will, no probate administration has been completed, and the only asset of the […]
Part of protecting your loved ones when you pass away is making sure that you have a proper estate plan in place. Another aspect is making sure that the right amount of money is available to carry out your goals for their futures. Life insurance has helped many people provide for their loved ones in the […]
