Estates

A guardian is the legal entity appointed by the court to manage property for a minor. A guardian is sometimes referred to as the custodian of a child's estate.

A custodian is also a term used by the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) and Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) for the person named to manage property left or given to a child under the terms of either of those Acts. The custodian manages the property until the child reaches the age specified by state law -- 21, in most states. Then the child receives the property outright, and the custodian has no further role in its management. The Acts have been adopted by some states and allows an arrangement by which a donor can designate a custodian for a minor for managing gifts under a certain dollar amount ($13,000).

Go to the clerks office of your local probate court get the necessary documents, fill them out, and return them to the clerks office. Better than that spend a few hundred dollars and hire a probate attorney to handle.

If there is real property involved, or a substantial amount of personal property, you should consult with an attorney who specializes in probate law in your jurisdiction. When anyone dies owning property, their debts must be paid before any assets can be distributed to the heirs. An estate representative must be appointed by the court and they must settle the estate according to state law. The estate representative is personally liable for any errors they make contrary to probate law or any waste caused by their errors.

Briefly, the estate representative's duties include the following:

• Safeguard the assets, changing locks if necessary until the will is presented for probate
• Select the attorney who will handle the estate
• Submit the will for allowance and petition for appointment as executor if there is a will
• Publish notice and notifies heirs at law and beneficiaries
• (Once appointed) Open an estate account if necessary
• Assemble, Inventory and take custody of assets
• Notify Social Security and insurance companies of the death
• Pay the debts of the estate according to statutory priority
• Administer the estate according to the provisions of the will and state law
• If there is no will the estate must be administered according to the state laws of intestacy
• File the estate tax return
• Distribute the estate
• File the final account

Laws of inheritance are necessary primarily because the world needs a way to know the identity of the new owner of property when the owner dies without leaving their instructions in a will. They provide an orderly passage of title to property.

However, in some areas of the world, laws of inheritance have been used historically to disinherit women and to prevent women from owning property. Those type of inheritance laws are necessary only to protect male dominance in patriarchal societies.

Siblings have the same parents. Heirs-at-law are all the people who would inherit your property according to your state laws of intestacy if you died without a will. They are listed generally as follows:

• your spouse, in some jurisdictions, your spouse and children
• if no spouse your children
• if no children your parents
• if no parents your siblings
• if siblings are deceased, their children
• and on and on

You can check the laws of your state at the related question link provided below.

Your question is somewhat unclear. If you question whether one of the children can be left out after the parent has died the answer is no. If the father left the property to all his children then each has an undivided interest in the property and no child was disinherited. That means each has the right to the use and possession of the property. If the property is sold and there are five children, each will receive one-fifth of the net proceeds.

If your question is whether a parent can disinherit a child, the answer is generally yes if the child is an adult. You must check your state laws to determine how a will must be drafted to effectively disinherit an adult child. In some states, if the will is not properly drafted, the court will decide the child was simply forgotten and will then distribute share to that child.

Minor children cannot be disinherited.

You are very confused about trusts and executors and mixing your terms. The decision to transfer your property to a trust is an estate planning tool. Property that has been properly transferred to a valid trust does not become part of the probate estate of a decedent because that property is owned by the trust. Property owned by a trust is managed by the trustee according to the provisions set forth in the trust. While trusts can determine the distribution of trust assets a trust cannot "appoint an executor". It doesn't need to because there is no estate in the trust grantor. An executor distributes assets under a will. The trustee distributes assets owned by a trust.

Generally, an executor is the person named in a will to supervise the settling of an estate. If the estate contains any probate assets the will must be probated and the executor must be appointed by the court. Once appointed, the court issues Letters Testamentary in the executor's name. The Letters provide the executor with the authority to settle the estate. An estate that contains real property must be probated in order for title to the property to pass to the heirs legally. When a person has transferred all their property to a trust while living then there is no estate to probate at death.

Now remember, executors are named in wills by testators and/or appointed by courts. Trustees are named by trustors in trust documents and manage trusts.

On death all relationships would be terminated, so a deceased person should not be getting any mail - all relevant parties - government authorities, pension providers, utility and finance organisations etc should be notified.

There might however be correspondence arriving from the fact of the death, those items should the addressed to 'the estate of' the deceased or the person winding up the estate (in his or her own name).

A court appointed executor or administrator would have the authority to submit a change of address at the post office to redirect mail to the fiduciary who is in charge of settling the estate especially if the fiduciary resides at some distance from the decedent.

Yes.

A will must be probated in order for it to be approved by the court and for the court to appoint an executor. If a trust is set up in a will (testamentary trust) then the court must officially appoint the trustee also. The executor and the trustee must follow the provisions in the will, the testamentary trust and the state probate laws under the supervision of the court.

Both the executor and the trustee must follow the provisions of the will and the trust set forth in the will exactly. They have no power to change anything. If they fail to act efficiently they should be reported to the court and replaced. They have no other power except that provided by the will and the court.

The difference is a matter of degree and the position of the person who commits the action.

Duress results from threats, violence, constraints or some other action intended to force someone to do something against their will or better judgment.

Undue influence is pressure, often masked, by a person who occupies a position of trust and confidence regarding a testator.