Estates

Generally speaking, a lawyer may not represent both sides of a dispute. In the event that two clients on retainer came into conflict, the attorney would normally be obligated to recuse himself from the case.

Consult the Bar Association in your State/Province for the exact policy regarding conflicts of interest.

For stocks and bonds it is simply a matter of looking up the prices for the date. For other items such as property, it can be evaluated currently and the price adjusted based on the local market.

Usually, the bank that takes over will issue new stock certificates in the name of the bank that took over the other one. Those can be sold as any other stock. If the take-over bank has not done that, for example if the new bank did not know where to send the new certicicates, then just contact the bank to request that new stock be issued. You may also be able to just contact a stockbroker who might be able to do all of this for you.

No, but I am making 2 assumptions. I take it that the sister's executor is the mother's beneficiary. I also assume that the mother survived any survivability period that might have been imposed by the will or statute. That being so, the property has vested in the mother, meaning it has become her property now. The only person who can transfer the deceased mother's property is the mother's executor. The correct procedure is for the sister's executor to make an executor's deed to the mother. Then the mother's executor will make a deed to the son. The fact that the mother died before the sister's executor made the deed to his mother does not deprive the mother of the property. The only way the property would not become the mother's is if the will required her to survive the sister by a certain period of time (as many wills do) and she failed to do so. But what happens then creates another problem which I won't go into here. Lastly, as always in probate matters you must check the laws of the state the probate is in.

The average price for land in Mississippi varies based upon what type of land you are interested in. The average range from simple land to land which is rich with timber is between $800 and $3,000 an acre.

the beneficiary in a trust is the person whom benefits from that which is held in trust.

The person who is designated as the Administrator or Executor of his estate is the one who has the right to file this return and to negotiate any refund check if one is due. The return must be filed and the type of return is a Decedents Return. Only the person authorized in the will and by the local Probate or Magistrate Court is able to take care of these matters.

Send the company a letter along with a copy of the death certificate. If there is an estate, the balance will need to be paid. Check with your lawyer for varying circumstances.

A trustee doesn't need advanced education. However, she needs to be business-like, trustworthy, a good record keeper and not a procrastinator.

not sure of Louisiana

An executor is obligated to keep heirs informed of court proceedings of an estate. Information should be sent by first class mail or certified return receipt for proof of notification.

No, the spouse is not responsible. However it does come out there assets left behind.

No, the money isn't taxed because it is already in the hands of the people on the account. As a person on the account you only need to withdraw the money.

In simple language, you keep records after someone has died, forever. If you are lucky, a person after your death will find the records and discover that which occured which you knew and the deceased person knew, but was all lost when they died. Not just the personal events of the dead, but the whole of the culture. Your deceased was because you kept the records and somebody after you got them; the records tell the future as much as letters from the Civil War, in the United States of America, as letters from grandparents, dead for 50 years, tell their grandchildren who they were and how they felt about each other, and notes, and scrambled papers, and old documents, like those I discovered yesterday, actually, yesterday, that my father who died in 1965, and my mother who died in 1998 both produced with the help of an accountant in Atlanta or somewhere: documents from a 1958 joint income tax return. I was a high school senior when that tax return, and its supporting documents were filed. I knew nothing of the doucment. I found it in a pile of documents, piled in a room, and forgotten, but by a dead mother who never threw anything away. That, of my life, long gone in youth, retured. And the concern of my father, with burning tobacco barns, tomato plants planted, his feeling that he did not have funds to give me XXX dollars to go to the Grand Canyon became as clear and painful to me, now, as it was to him. then, fifty years ago. I pay taxes now; I know the costs of a family, and I would have never comprehended his view of the world, but for the records, just placed in a pile and a box, with a side falling off from age and glue and gravity. So the answer to your question: you keep records forever. Oh, if you are talking about record keeping for various legal purposes.... I'll have to get some sites for you. Frankly, records are forever.

If a testamentary insturment, as a purported will, is not signed, there is a good chance that it is not a will. On the the hand, back to jurisdiction, the legal concepts of dependant relative revocation, and that particular jurisdictional view of copies, documents and other indices of testamentary intent just have to be reconded with. Again, "what if a will is not signed?" Well, it might not be a will. Check with your local probate court. (Once more: jurisdiction, jurisdiction, jurisdiction)

When the policy holder dies, the money goes to the beneficiary. If the beneficiary then dies, THEIR beneficiary then gets the money.

All states have laws of intestacy that direct the distribution of an estate when the decedent dies without a will.

As an old Professor of mine would point out: NO ONE DIES WITHOUT A WILL. Everyone actually has one. Because, if you don't write one for yourself, the State you die in already has ... of course they probably have different wishes about what should be done.

The laws of descent (similar, but not identical in each State) control what will happen to all of your earthly goods. if you haven't properly specified them in an executed will...no matter how much you think "everyone knows what i want", even if they do...it won't make a difference.

A cousin can contest a will but only if by winning the contest, the cousins will inherit a part of the estate that they would not inherit under the will. In short, the cousins have to have "standing" to contest a will. "Standing" generally means having some kind of stake in the outcome of the case. As an example, assume the will gives everything to the decedent's children and that if the will were set aside the children would get the estate anyway by intestacy or perhaps by an earlier will, then the cousins may not challenge the will because they get nothing even if they are successful. Another situation is if the cousins are the only heirs of a decedent, but the decedent's will gives everything to other people, then they can sue. It is not the status as "cousin" that determines whether they may contest the will. Standing confers that right. Standing comes from having a stake in the outcome of the will contest.

In addition to all out-of-pocket expenses in managing and settling the estate, Personal Representatives (executors) generally earn a fee of about 2% of the probate estate for their work. (This varies moderately in jurisdictions and generally decreases as a percentage as the size of the estate increases). All fees and reimbursed expenses are subject to court approval.

A beneficiary has no responsibilities. They receive the benefit of the bequest or trust. They would be responsible for any tax consequences.

There are no clear numbers on the percentage of executors that charge the estate for their services. Estimates put this number at anywhere from 40 to 75 percent.

It is a part of the estate.

In many states a handwritten will is legal and you don't need to buy or download forms. Whether you use a handwritten will or fill out a form, a will must have not only your signature, but also the signature of any witnesses. Usually at least two witnesses are required and their signatures must be notarized.

Generally, income from a trust must be reported. You should speak with a tax professional at tax time.