Do I need a probate for a small estate? Does Georgia have a simplified probate? Is there a small estate affidavit in Georgia? Which are the best alternatives to a probate estate? These are some of the questions our law office faces quite often. When people die, their assets must be distributed to t...
So, you've recently learned that a deceased loved one had named you the executor of estate on their will — Now what? Before you accept the role, you must be aware of the responsibility that goes with it, including having a thorough understanding of probate laws. You can easily be held person...
Losing a loved one is difficult enough — managing their estate affairs while you grieve is even harder. When the responsibility to handle the deceased's property falls on your shoulders, you may wonder what happens next. As a first step, the probate court will deal with the deceased's assets based...
Over the last few months we've written a lot about conditions that slow the probate process down. Considerably. We've picked on the Prince estate, but only because it's continuously in the news and serves as a perfect example for a lot of what can go wrong. But, things don't always have to go wrong ...
Think Watergate, Wills, Trusts, Executors, Trustees, fees and Watergate have nothing in common? Think again. All the President’s Men showed reporters Bernstein and Woodward frustratingly stymied as they tried to run down the story of a lifetime. At the low point of the Washington Post’s inves...
Last month we did a Facebook post about the latest on the Michael Jackson estate - yes, it is still open. The crux was this: the IRS valued Michael Jackson's image - an asset under California law - at a whopping $434 million. The estate valued it at . . . $2,105. The IRS is currently suing the estat...
Here's a quick story. A father runs a successful farm. He and his wife have two children, both boys, a couple of years apart. The boys grow up, go to college, go on to solid careers. Mom dies, dad remarries. The boys, now in their late forties are not happy. Dad, though, is. The boys never accept th...
We were looking back on some of the probate cases we've written about over the last year and, sure enough, one of them had a significant update in the last month or so. It casts the spotlight on the duties of executors/trustees. It is the Alan Thicke estate. You may recall that Alan Thicke died sud...
You hear about simple wills all the time. Usually, it means someone executed ‘just’ a will, a will that took care of everything without the need for trusts. You know, simple. We find that a lot of people also think: simple will, simple probate, no problems, no worries. It’s a natural enough as...
We just did a Facebook post about an article in the Washington Post last week about Prince's estate - it was the two year anniversary of his death last Sunday. The title was: What would Prince want? A really evocative headline, to be sure. Prince, as you know, died unexpectedly and without a will....
You hear about simple wills all the time. Usually, it means someone executed ‘just’ a will, a will that took care of everything without the need for trusts. You know, simple. We find that a lot of people also think: simple will, simple probate, no problems, no worries. It’s a natural enough as...
What about a probate case where the deceased was a French citizen living in the United States for tax reasons who left a California will bequeathing his French property to his fourth wife? Now add this - that will disinherited his two children from his first wife, a violation of French law, and the ...
