Historically, determining a decedent’s heirs was easy – determine all of the decedent’s living family members on the date of decedent’s death and if decedent’s wife was pregnant on the date of his death, wait to see if the child is born alive. Now, however, science has provided us with the ability to freeze genetic […]
Suppose your aging mother asks your sister to take care of her finances and help her to balance her checkbook. You live out of town, and think it’s a great idea. To make things easier, your mother adds your sister as a joint owner of her bank account. When your mother dies, her Will leaves […]
My clients frequently claim that their number one goal in establishing an estate plan is to “avoid probate.” Upon further discussion, I discover that most have a number of misconceptions regarding what probate actually is. Probate Probate is, quite simply, the legal process by which assets owned by a decedent are transferred to the rightful […]
Although most of us would consider our estate planning attorney to be superhuman, the fact of the matter is that sometimes they are unable to perform their duties. In a recent case, the district court found that the physical and mental ailments of an estate planning attorney did not provide reasonable cause for the estate […]
Escheat is the forfeit of all property to the state when a person dies without heirs, descendants, or named beneficiaries. Escheat of property occurs when it appears from a petition or application for probate, or otherwise in a proceeding in a court, that a decedent left surviving no spouse or kindred. A court then will […]
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, there are several considerations that should be made prior to distributing real property from an estate or trust.
I previously wrote on how to disclaim property under federal law to avoid or minimize estate taxes. While estates may fall short of the federal estate tax exemption limit, currently set at $5 million, individuals may still need to disclaim property to avoid Minnesota estate tax. Many individuals think their estates also fall short of […]
Jamie Held explained that the benefit of disclaimer planning is to utilize “…both spouses’ estate tax exemption amounts in order to minimize or eliminate estate tax on a couple’s accumulated wealth.” As we have mentioned often, the current federal estate tax exemption limit is $5 million. However, this exemption limit is set only until the […]
Losing a spouse is a heart-wrenching event that can be difficult, if not unbearable, to even plan for. Therefore, many surviving spouses are not prepared for the death of their spouse and subsequently have to deal with financial and legal questions at a time when they are most likely not thinking clearly. This post discusses […]
Below is an illustration (a fictitious one) with three things to consider upon the death of a spouse who owns a business. Henry and Wendy celebrated their 30th anniversary last summer with their two children and three grandchildren. At the time of her death in November 2011, Wendy owned an increasingly successful retail business. Henry […]
We hear about it in the news, someone famous has disinherited a family member, or even more exciting, the whole family! Sometimes we even hear from the disgruntled “non-beneficiary” with an explanation or a tell-all critique of the person who did the disinheriting. But we rarely hear about it with the perspective that Mary Beth Caschetta […]