Wills, Trusts and Probate Law

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.

Law Library

Wills, Trusts and Probate Law Articles

Intangible Tax Trusts

There is currently an opportunity for Florida residents to avoid Florida's intangible tax. The strategy discussed below makes sense for almost anyone who is subject to a significant intangible tax.The Florida intangible tax is generally imposed at ...
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Integrated Estate Planning

For the client who needs to protect assets, estate planning may include the use of asset protection trusts (such as foreign-situs trusts) that will put assets safely out of reach. Although there are potentially many reasons to use such vehicles ...
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International Adoptions: Guidelines on Immediate Relative Petitions

Bureau of Consular Affairs February 1997Only US citizens may petition for the immediate immigration of foreign adopted children. There is no provision in US immigration law for the entry of newly adopted children of legal permanent residents (green ...
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Intestacy Laws

If you die without a will, you die "intestate." Each state has "intestacy" laws which determine who will receive the property of intestate decedents. In New Jersey, the general rules are as follows: If spouse survives, no children: If spouse ...
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Investment Boom in Italy’s Golden Triangle

Lombard, the English-language Italian business magazine, reports (November, 1999) that: "Leading private-equity investors based in Italy and abroad are in a hurry to establish a presence in the Milan-Bologna-Verona triangle." The article refers to ...
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IP Strategies In Deals. Seminar Summary of Speaker Glynna K. Christian of Thelen Reid and Priest LLP.

Glynna K. Christian, a partner at Thelen Reid and Priest, discussed the various ways to structure IP rights in complex multi-jurisdiction and multiparty deals. In discussing the advantages and disadvantages of joint ventures, she noted that they are ...
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IRA Plans Have Many Facets

How are IRA's taxed? IRA's (Individual Retirement Accounts), Keogh Plans, Simplified Employee Pensions, 401(k) Plans, and company pension and profit sharing plans, (hereinafter collectively referred to as "plans"), are designed to defer tax on ...
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IRS Liberalizes Rules on S Corporation Ownership by Trusts

Once upon a time, S corporations (the kind which pay no federal income tax at the corporate level) had to be owned by a few individuals. Then the concept of "a few" expanded. After that, a limited form of trust was allowed to own stock in S ...
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IRS Notice Extends To June 30, 2000 The Deadline for Adding A Flip Feature to Existing Charitable Remainder Unitrusts

On December 10, 1998 the U.S. Treasury issued final Regulations affecting charitable remainder unitrusts (CRUT's). The rules are effective for CRUT's created on or after December 10, 1998. CRUT's already in existence at that date can now be reformed ...
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Joint Tenancy Q and A

What is Joint Tenancy with Rights of Survivorship?Joint Tenancy ownership is where two or more people hold title to an asset. Joint tenancy with rights of survivorship (JT/WROS) features a right of survivorship. The term "right of survivorship ...
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