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 […]
Part III: Who? Identifying The Participants. “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts[.]” ~ William Shakespeare’s As You Like It In addition to making clients face their own mortality, estate planning presents an […]
I have helped many people draft their estate plan documents and most have been traditional in the sense that they want to be “fair” to their descendants. If there is a spouse all goes to them, next to their kids in equal shares. Further, the testator (persons for whom the estate plan has been drafted) […]
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 […]
Part II: Why? Framing the Issue. “Art is a nation’s most precious heritage. For it is in our works of art that we reveal to ourselves and to others the inner vision which guides us as a nation. And where there is no vision, the people perish.” ~Lyndon Johnson, on signing the Arts & Humanities […]
“The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.” ~William Faulkner, Author and Nobel Prize Laureate. Part I: The Big Picture. As an estate planning attorney, […]
If a testator executes a Will before getting married and never updates the Will to include the spouse before he or she passes away, the surviving spouse is known as a pretermitted spouse. In such case, state statutes provide that the pretermitted spouse is entitled to inherit an amount equal to what the spouse would […]
I read a recent “LA Times” article and the message hit home. My parents have been telling my sisters and me for years now that we are receiving our inheritance when we need it most … now, for expenses such as our education, purchasing our first homes and our weddings. Apparently my parents are not […]
When clients execute their Wills, attorneys typically ask the following questions, in some manner, to determine the client’s mental capacity to execute the Will and whether or not they are doing so freely: Does this Will accurately reflect your wishes for the distribution of your property? Did you have the opportunity to review and discuss […]
Anyone who attended a Twin Cities Pride event this summer can attest to the vitality of Minnesota’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community. The turnout and support for the GLBT community proved Minneapolis deserving of the honor, “Gayest City in America,” bestowed on the city earlier this year by The Advocate. As an estate […]
Cost and convenience are often deterrents to completing an estate plan. Consequently, many individuals and couples turn to “Do-It-Yourself” (DIY) options. Plenty of DIY options exist: websites, other online applications, books with CDs, etc. These options are admittedly less expensive; however, you get what you pay for … and that is not much. These options […]