Probate attorneys handling wills, trusts, and estate administration must typically advise their clients on matters such as beneficiary designation, how to form a life estate in property, what will happen to property if your client fails to make an estate plan, and more. FindLaw’s Corporate Counsel Center Law Library has law articles written to help you better understand specific estate planning techniques and when to consider forming a trust on your client’s behalf. If your client needs a living will or an advance health care directive, click on the articles below to help inform your research and learn the requirements of each state, such as the number of witnesses necessary and who can be designated as a health care surrogate.
Wills, Trusts and Probate Law
Law Library
Wills, Trusts and Probate Law Articles
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I Don't Need A Will
When I speak before a civic group or a neighborhood association, I usually can hear someone whisper in the back ground, a "I don't need a will. I just came tonight because my wife (husband, daughter, son, girlfriend--you can insert lots of persons ...
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Estate Planning for Non-Resident Spouses
This memorandum discusses generally the U.S. gift tax and estate tax issues to consider for a married couple when the husband or wife or both are not citizens of the United States. In general, the U.S. gift tax and estate tax laws permit unlimited ...
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Citizenship in Estate Planning: A Trap for the Unwary
What is your marital status? What is your family history? What is your net worth? How are your assets owned? These are the typical questions asked by an estate planner during an initial estate planning conference. One important and often overlooked ...
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Contemplating A Charitable Sales Promotion? Think Before You Solicit
In recent years, charitable sales promotions have become an increasingly popular way for consumer products companies to support charitable causes while, at the same time, fostering commercial goodwill. Companies that may not have traditionally ...
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Life Estate Q and A
A "life estate" is an estate whose duration is limited to the life of an individual (usually the party holding the life estate), and a legal arrangement whereby the "life tenant" during his or her life retains use (the rights to rents and profits ...
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Distribution Of The Probate Estate If There Is No Will
Generally, if a person dies without a Will - i.e., dies "intestate" - the laws of the state in which she resided at death will direct how the property passing through her probate estate will be distributed. (See article entitled GETTING PROPERTY TO ...
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Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Wills.
Yes. The cost of a "simple" will (which is all most people need) will save, easily, 10 to 20 times the drafting fee in reduced probate costs. Texas law, as with most states, allows the estate to be probated easily and simply, if there is a will ...
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Estate Planning Update
Under current law, you are allowed to give cash, assets and other property totaling up to $10,000 per year to as many individuals as you desire without incurring a gift tax or using any part of your unified credit exemption (presently $650,000 ...
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The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997: An Overview of Selected Provisions
The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which was signed by President Clinton on August 5, 1997 (the "Act"), provides tax benefits that affect a broad range of taxpayers. The following is a brief description of the important provisions of the Act that will ...
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The Revocable Living Trust in California
Introduction Revocable Living Trusts are used by thousands of people in California to avoid having their estates subject to probate. In California estates with a market value over $100,000, anyone in California who owns a house is likely to be in ...