Probate

After someone passes away, their estate has to be dealt with. The legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person is called probate. Throughout this process, key estate planning documents, such as wills, are looked at by the court and approved. However,...

Agreeing to take on the role of a trustee or executor is a huge responsibility. You have to commit your time, the potential of taking on legal liability and being willing to handle complex financial matters.  If you do not believe you can handle this role or do not...

Executing someone’s estate can be taxing, especially if you were close to the deceased person and are still grieving their loss. To add to your problems, you may face pressure from beneficiaries to hurry up and distribute the estate. If the estate needs to go through...

If you are one of the beneficiaries named in a will, only the probate process stands between you and your inheritance. The court-controlled exercise involves validating the will, identifying assets, paying debts and distributing the estate to its heirs and other...

If you leave a will behind, your estate will go through probate. This is a court-supervised process of authenticating your will.  But from locating your assets to validating your will, paying out your debts and estate taxes and distributing what is left per your will...

When a married individual dies, their spouse becomes a widow or widower. They may have numerous social and legal challenges ahead after the death of their spouse. On the practical side of things, removing someone from mortgages and utility accounts, reworking the...

You’ve been named the executor of someone’s estate, and you’re happy to serve. However, you didn’t realize just how many different things have to be handled. This includes the deceased person’s Social Security benefits. What do the survivors and heirs get to keep --...

If you’re looking to leave money to one of your heirs, the most traditional way to do it is simply to put that money in your will. You name your heir and you state how much of your assets you would like to leave them. Your will and estate plan then goes through the...

Fiduciaries are people entrusted with making decisions related to a deceased person’s estate.  Yet, they cannot just make any decision they please. They are required to make all their decisions with the best interests of the beneficiaries and/or the estate in mind....

When you die, your estate has to pass to someone. For this reason, the law allows you to create a will that dictates how your assets will be divided. Without a will, Minnesota intestacy laws would dictate how your estate is distributed.  Probate is the legal process...