Purpose of probate: Probate of the estate serves several purposes. It starts with identifying the heirs of the estate, continues
Continue Reading What happens if there are not enough assets in the Estate to pay all claims
Account Closures and Cancellations
One of the hardest parts of losing a loved one is dealing with the financial aftermath. While your family and
Continue Reading Account Closures and Cancellations
Basics of Planning a Funeral
Pre-Planning is best because it eases the burden on your loved ones. If you have specific wishes (i.e. – scattering
Continue Reading Basics of Planning a Funeral
My recent interview on Serene Home: mistakes, challenges and costs of estate planning.
I was recently interviewed on Serene Home about how to put your estate planning affairs in order. Please read the article below.
https://theserenehome.com/estate-planning-katya-sverdlov-esq-talks-to-the-serene-home/
Fiduciary Cannot Engage in Self-Dealing
Regular Wills vs. Crypto Wills
Most people want to pass down their assets in accordance with their wishes, with minimal costs, minimal delays, and minimal strife amongst the heirs. Yet there are several problems with using traditional Wills to accomplish these goals. These problems include: not having one’s wishes honored because of losing one’s Will; or having your the Will challenged by heirs; not addressing the distribution of all the of your assets because the Will was written years before death and new assets have been acquired; and high costs of lawyers, h costs needed to pay to lawyers, courts, and executors to finalize the Will.
CryptoWills, which use blockchain, may address some of these problems. First, if the data is stored on blockchain, it cannot be lost.
How to make a statement after you are dead
Most people want to leave a legacy. Yet most people also have no idea how to go about doing it. One simple way is through a life insurance policy.
What is a Public Administrator?
The Public Administrator is one of a chosen group of attorneys in one office per county who the Court often calls upon to administer to non-standard cases.
The Public Administrator generally has the job of handling estates of people who die without a Will and who have no close relatives who are able to administer the estate: If your nearest living relative is a cousin (or more distant) the Public Administrator will need to be placed on notice. In addition, the Public Administrator often replaces initial Executors or Administrators who are unable to qualify or unable to serve.
The Public Administrator’s job is to collect all of the assets of the estate, pay the outstanding bills and distribute the remaining money to the distributees of the deceased. The job of finding the distributees is often the most time-consuming and expensive, as distant relatives may have to be located in multiple countries with the help of genealogists or investigators.
Be very careful about titling assets – you could disinherit your children!
I received a call this month from a man who wanted to receive his share of his father’s building. The property had a value of approximately $4MM. There were 5 children in total, 2 from father’s first marriage (one of whom was this client) and 3 from father’ second marriage. The caller could not understand why, after the death of his father, the property was being listed for sale by his 3 half-siblings without any input from him.
After I looked up the ownership of the property, I had to tell him the unpleasant truth: He will not get a penny from the sale of this real estate.
Continue Reading Be very careful about titling assets – you could disinherit your children!
Are Heirs Responsible for Decedent’s Debts?
According to the most recent data from Credit.com, 73% of consumers had outstanding debt when they were reported as dead, with the average total balance of $62K. Debts included home loans, credit cards, auto loans, personal loans and student loans.
An estate is responsible to pay the deceased person’s debts. If there is sufficient money, the creditors get paid first, and the beneficiaries receive whatever remains.
Continue Reading Are Heirs Responsible for Decedent’s Debts?
Executor of your Will: who should be named and what are his responsibilities?
An Executor is the person named in the Will who ensures that deceased person’s wishes are carried out after death, that all the assets are found, that all the debts are paid and all the money is distributed according to deceased person’s wishes.
Responsibilities: The duties of an executor include: finding the Will, hiring a probate lawyer to put together a probate petition (including getting all the signatures from all the necessary parties), filing the petition and the Will with the court in order to be appointed as an Executor by the court, appearing in court (if necessary), notifying credit cards companies and banks about death, setting up an estate bank account, filing an inventory of assets with the court, carrying out the wishes of the decedent (including selling the real estate and other assets, if necessary), paying all the necessary income and estate taxes, and distributing the assets to the beneficiaries.
Who should you name: as you can see, the probate process can be long and complex. The executor should be someone responsible and capable of handling such a task. Usually people name relatives or friends, because they know that the person will carry out their wishes.
Continue Reading Executor of your Will: who should be named and what are his responsibilities?