Estates

You need to consult with an attorney who specializes in trusts, real estate and probate who can review the situation, review the related legal documents and explain the status of the property.

If there are any assets or debts, probate is the thing to do.

Certainly. The family can agree on a person, or the court will appoint one. If no one 'volunteers' or if the family can't agree, the court will appoint an attorney or bank to serve in that capacity. They will value the estate, pay off all debts, file taxes and then distribute the remainder according to the state's intestacy laws.

The deadline for filing claims against estates depends on the laws of the state of probate. There are two considerations to keep in mind.

First, at the very least, the claim must be brought before any applicable statute of limitations expires. If the claim is unenforceable against the decedent had he /she lived, then it is not enforceable against the estate.

Second, many states have laws or rules that state that have procedural time periods for presenting claims against an estate; however, failure to do so might not result in a denial of the claim for missing that deadline. This type of deadline is a procedural one. It allows the executor to determine the debts of the estate for estate and inheritance tax purposes and to let executors distribute the estate without waiting for a legal statute of limitations to expire. All this means is that executors should not give estate assets to beneficiaries before this procedural period expires, or executors would be liable for payment if they could not get money back from beneficiaries.

Also, at least in New Jersey, if a legitimate claim comes in after the procedural period but before final distribution is made, the debt still has to be paid out of the estate.

Adoption law varies state to state but in general the short answer is yes. You can adopt someone of any age. Of course, to make someone an heir to your estate, the easier way would be to execute a will.

The probate process is not completed until the estate has been distributed. You should complain to the court that the executor has not carried out her duties and ask that she be replaced. You should also be complaining to the attorney who is handling the estate.

This is very tricky. It all depends on the original estate documents. If the documents state something like " If _______ is unable or unwilling to serve or ceases to act then _________ shall act..." In this case I would suggest no because the original person whose documents you are executing already covered that. However, if no one else is listed and the mother has a power of attorney that states that the daughter may act on her behalf to settle estates and trusts then yes that power can be exercised in accordance to the documentation under the guidelines of the state and the county. But as stated earlier if backup individual is listed if the first can not do the duty then no.

An executor is charged with acting in the best interests of the deceased and adhere to the stipulations of the will. An executor may acquire money from the estate if: 1. there are specific stipulations in the will that the executor is entitled to funds as compensation for their efforts. 2. The executor is a named beneficiary of the will, a situation that often happens with couples.

When the probate process is completed and the court has signed off. The letters of authorization do expire as well.

It will depend on specific state laws and whether there are assets that need to go through probate. But in general, it is the contents of the estate that determine the need for probate, not the existence of a will.

If the person left a Will the Will will identify who the administrator (executor) of the estate is to be - only this person can anministor the estate. If there is no Will then the state will appoint an administrator (there will be country specific laws relating to how this happens).

THE TENANT IS STILL ALIVE BUT HAS MOVED

we need to know more facts. Who granted the life estate? Are they still alive? Were there any terms to the life estate, such as "if unable to occupy for six consecutive months, the life estate terminates". The person granted the life estate can also terminate it by filing a document at the registry of deeds.

This depends on the laws of the state where the will is to be probated. Some states have more stringent proof requirements than others in the event the witnesses are dead or unknown. Several points to be made here. Most states require wills to be witnessed by two people but that only one of them needs to appear to sign an affidavit that he or she witnessed the testator and the other witness sign the will. If one witness has to sign such a proof for the will to be probated, then more than likely the will will not be admitted to probate, because proper legal execution of the will cannot be made. If one witness has died but the other is available to sign the affidavit, then there should be no problem as long as that state does not require both witnesses to attest to the will's execution. In New Jersey, case law developed whereby if a will had a proper attestation clause and if it had been signed by two witnesses, then someone having knowledge of the handwriting of one witness could sign an affidavit that the signature of one witness on the will is in fact the handwriting of that witness. This makes it likely that the will was signed by that person as a witness in the manner described in the attestation clause. The attestation clause must properly describe how the will was executed or else this technique is unavailable. Modern probate laws governing execution of the will now provided for what is called a "self-proving will". To make a will self-proving, the testator and witnesses sign an affidavit attesting to the proper execution of the will at the same time that the will is executed. This affidavit is then used as the affidavit of proof that a witness to the will would have had to sign to probate the will. This eliminates the need to have one of the actual witnesses to the will at the time of probate. If a will is properly self-proving, there is no further need for the witness to be available to prove the will. This innovation was done in order to save some wills from being denied probate simply because the witnesses had died or were unavailable to prove the will.

You fill out an application at the probate court. If there are no objections, the court will grant letters of authority.

Yes. It is common for a beneficiary to be also named the executor.

The contents of a Will remain private until the death of the testator so the person who is named as executor may not be known until the Will is read. As the role of an executor is merely to distribute the assets of the deceased in accordance with the terms of the Will of the deceased, an executor will have no say in how the Will is prepared or to whom the assets should be distributed. Therefore, there is no legal reason why an executor should not be named as a beneficiary in a Will. In fact it is quite often preferable for a family member (and beneficiary) to act in the role of executor.

That arrangement is frequently used in wills executed by husband and wife or life partners where each leaves the entire estate to the other and names the other as the executor.

You cannot sell property free and clear of a life estate unless the life tenant consents to the sale and releases their life estate. Otherwise, the buyer would take the property subject to the life estate.

No. In order to protect the trust property from claims the beneficiary should not be their own trustee. That type of scheme makes the trust vulnerable to creditors and also makes a trust invalid in most jurisdictions.

A life estate is not a fee interest and a bank will not loan money on real property unless it can take the property by foreclosure in the case of a default. The fee owners (or remaindermen) would need to consent to the mortgage.

The exception is the "enhanced life estate" available in Florida and few other states whereby the life estate holder has the power to sell and mortgage the property during their life.

Not necessarily. A lien is for a debt which is secured by the property. It might be for a loan the owner got, or it might be for work done by a contractor who wasn't paid (mechanic's lien). If the debt is in default, then the property might be subject to being sold to raise money to cover the debt (the property owner would keep any proceeds over the amount of the lien). Or, the lien may simply lie dormant until the owner wants to sell, and hinder the sale until it is satisfied.

In Texas, if the home is your Homestead. It cannot be taken from you whether or not you have a lien unless that lien is a Mortgage lien or property tax lien. If it is a Mechanic's Lien, meaning that there was work done on the property and the debt is unpaid, that person may file a lien of the property. In this case, if and only if you are selling the property, must the lien be satisfied. In some cases the person who performed work on the property my sue for the balance which may result in your having to sell the property to satisfy the lien. When you close on the property at a Title Company, all liens are paid before clear title can be transferred.

In either of the aforementioned scenarios the lien will be satisfied.

In general, the homestead of an individual is safe from any creditor unless it is for mortgage default or for failure to property taxes of any kind which in some cases also includes Home Owner Association dues.

The Joint Tenancy gives the surviving spouse ownership of the house without having to pay inheritance tax and other things. The items in the Will, have to go through Probate and be distributed to the beneficiaries.

You need to provide more details regarding the nature of the trust. Generally, if there is a trustee involved then title to the real estate is in the trust and not what you refer to as the "owner". The trust is the owner. The trustee powers are set forth in the document that created the trust. You need to review those provisions to ascertain the powers of the trustee for selling real estate.

I think you might have meant "Grant Deed", not "Grand". It is something that means you are given rights to own a certain property. Not sure of the EXACT definition though. * A grant deed is the common type of deed used to transfer property from the seller to the buyer (or company) or inherited property from the name of deceased to the beneficiary and so forth.

The short answer is "no." In most (if not all) US states, a lawyer is not required to draft a will. The rest of this is my opinion: If the will is not a complicated one, doing it yourself is not very hard. If the difficulty is higher, you may wish to still do it yourself, but it will take some time. If the will is complicated, find a competent estate planner and estate lawyer. If you don't know all of your state's verbiage that needs to be included in the will that you want to draft, get a lawyer. If you are willing to take the time to learn the verbiage that must be included, there are resources to help. If you don't know how you would like to make it work, or do not know the best way to protect the most stuff, find a competent estate planner. Once again, if you are willing to take the time to learn how to do it, there are resources to help. I would recommend to not go to a lawyer to learn how to structure the will, nor would I go to an estate planner to get the will's verbiage. It is the lawyer's job to make sure the will holds up in court, should it be challenged. It is the estate planner's job to make sure the money and assets go where you want them to. It is both the lawyer's and the estate planner's job to make their employer money. In some instances, they can save you money and heartache.