As your parents age, members of your family, friends, and caretakers may take more of a prominent role in their lives. They may begin to have more influence on your parent’s life, but when does that influence transition to something more sinister? Sometimes, a person will enter an elderly person’s life in order to unduly influence their life and the disposition of their estate, but do you know...
Trusts can be complex instruments involving significant assets, numerous beneficiaries, the instructions of the grantor, and the appointment of a trustee to manage the trust. In most cases, the trustee is a person or institution that is responsible with the handling of the trust funds and communicates regularly with the beneficiaries of the trust about the health of the trust. However, in some...
If you are the heir in a will or beneficiary of a trust, you are entitled to those assets in a prompt and timely manner. But sometimes, a trustee or executor drags his or her feet on distributing the assets that you deserve. Regardless of the reason, you have a right to compel distribution of what you are rightfully owed, and an experienced probate attorney is your best chance at success....
Typically, the reading of a will is not a surprising or unexpected situation. Many people share the contents of their will with their loved ones before their passing, or you can roughly estimate what you might inherit based on how close you were to your loved one and by intestacy laws. However, sometimes the reading of a will does shock potential heirs when they discover that they have been...
There are many benefits to starting a trust, and the person placed in charge of managing the trust on behalf of its beneficiaries is called the trustee. In most situations, the trustee manages the trust well and in the beneficiaries’ best interest; however, sometimes situations arise that necessitate the removal of a trustee. Courts only allow for the removal of a trustee under specific...
Creating a will and estate plan can be beneficial for both you and your heirs, but in order to have a legally recognizable will, certain steps must be taken in order to validate its contents. Known as will formalities, these procedural steps ensure that your will is made legally under the law and minimizes the chances of issues like mental capacity, undue influence, or fraud from impacting...
The loss of a loved one is never easy, and matters can be further complicated when there are issues with the will. If you believe that a lack of mental capacity, undue influence, fraud, forgery, or another issue renders a will invalid, you may have a valid claim for challenging that will. One of the most common questions people ask when determining whether to contest a will is, “How long does...
The reading of most wills is a fairly unsurprising experience. Oftentimes, our elderly loved ones will share the contents of their estate plan ahead of time or will have their estate distributed as expected to family. However, in some situations, the will may distribute the assets of the estate unexpectedly or strongly favor one person who recently entered or reentered your family member’s...
The passing of a loved one is never easy, but some of the burden of the loss is mitigated by the drafting of a will and estate plan. Oftentimes, the deceased will have discussed their estate plan with family members, so the reading of a will is usually a fairly uneventful and unsurprising affair. However, on occasion the contents of a will can vary significantly from what was discussed and be...
When a loved one passes away, his or her estate goes to probate to be administered according to the estate plan or state law. If that person had a final will and testament or other estate planning documents, the executor of the estate will distribute assets as ordered in the will. But what if someone disagrees with the will and decides to contest the estate plan? Below are some of the most...