When a person dies without proper planning, their estate enters a public legal process that can last months—sometimes ...

Probate is a legal process that verifies the validity of a deceased person’s will. This includes addressing debts and distributing remaining assets. If you die without a will or a living trust, ...

If the goal is to help children bypass probate, a living trust is only part of the strategy, not a catchall bucket for every ...

I recently helped an executor administer an estate that poured over to an unfunded revocable trust. Although the decedent failed to use the trust to avoid probate, the trust made probate easy. The ...

The need for probate when a spouse dies depends on various factors. If assets were owned jointly, they often pass directly to the surviving spouse without probate. Similarly, assets like life ...

When a person dies with a will, their estate must usually undergo probate. This is the process by which the will is proven to be valid. As part of this process, the probate court will appoint an ...