Personal representative

Personal representatives and trustees are commonly responsible for distributing real property from an estate or trust to its designated beneficiaries. Such distributions present unique challenges for personal representatives, trustees, and beneficiaries alike.  To this end, [...]

Real property in an estate or trust administration is a post from: Epilawg

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No, this is not about purchasing life insurance or finding the best policy. We leave that to the insurance experts. This article is a simple reminder to keep your policy information with the rest of your estate planning documents. The reason: You want your personal representative or your trustee to know about your policies after you have passed away. This will ensure that the life insurance company is notified of your death so that your beneficiaries can receive distributions.  I found interesting information about what happens to unclaimed policy benefits in Paul Sullivan‘s nytimes.com article, Tracking Down and Collecting Unclaimed Life Insurance Policies.

In addition to having your life insurance policy information with your estate planning documents, it is recommended to keep a list of your advisors and accounts so that all of your assets can be distributed efficiently and properly. Take a few minutes this weekend to find your estate planning documents and make sure that all of the necessary information is accessible to those who will someday need it.

Where have all the life insurance policies gone? is a post from: Epilawg

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Deeds & Probate

April 19, 2011

In past articles we have covered the pros and cons of avoiding probate.  As a brief refresher, probate is not always a terrible process but in some cases, it can be long, complicated, and expensive. If you want to avoid probate, you need to title your property in a way that it will be transferred [...]

Deeds & Probate is a post from: Epilawg

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TV Lessons: Raising Hope on Avoiding Probate Litigation

March 4, 2011

Okay, I admit.  I spend my free weekday evenings parsing through my Google Reader with the TV on in the background.  This week, two shows that I have never seen before caught my attention; not because of the witty and meaningful dialogue, but because words like “Probate,” “Lawyer,” and “Will” came up in a prime [...]

TV Lessons: Raising Hope on Avoiding Probate Litigation is a post from: Epilawg

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What is Probate?

May 1, 2010

Probate is the legal process by which a personal representative distributes a deceased person’s probate assets. Probate assets are those assets titled in a person’s name alone. Non-probate assets include jointly owned property, retirement and life insurance plans, and various other assets. A Will directs the transfer of probate assets while non-probate assets are transferred [...]

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