Estate Planning Questions

1. How Can I Find a Will That Has Disappeared Now That the Person Who Made It Has Died?

   If you have access to the will maker's living space and property, the first sensible step is to look in the obvious places: desk drawers, file cabinets, closets. You'll generally be able to identify the will once you see it; most are stapled onto a distinctive colored cardboard backing and are clearly...
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2. Are family corporations a good or bad idea?

   It's one way parents can pass along property to children. But be forewarned: There are complicated rules about gifting shares in private corporations. You are all on safe ground if your parents properly valued those shares and reported the gift of those assets to the IRS if they were above the annual...
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3. What is the specific wording to use when excluding children from will?

   You are legally free to disinherit children if you want to do so. But as you seem to have sensed, it is best to add specific language to your will that removes all doubt about your intentions. That's because there's a legal rule that holds that if you forgot to mention a child in your will, that child may be entitled to a certain percentage of your estate...
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4. When making a minor change in a will, do I need to have it done by a lawyer?

   The lawyerly answer is: It depends.
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5. Does my girlfriend need her dad's permission to receive property left to her in her grandfather's will?

   Your girlfriend's grandfather might have been trying to be crafty from the grave by imposing this requirement of cooperation. But how and whether that will work depends on the exact wording of the will.If the will simply left the entire estate to your girlfriend AND her father, the law will imply that the two of them should divide the property equally...
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6. Can I add codicil to will without a lawyer present?

   No law requires that you hire a lawyer to prepare or to be present when you make a will or codicil. The laws controlling how to make a valid codicil vary from state-to-state. In most states, however, you must sign and date it. And at least two people, neither of whom are entitled to take property under...
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7. How do we pay off my late father's debts?

   While your father’s debts live on without him, the banks and lawyers cannot get paid from assets that don’t exist. The standard process is to notify all of the known or potential creditors and then state law sets out an order in which they should get paid.Often official “notice” to these creditors oditors occurs through a probate court proceeding...
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8. When there was no estate planning what happens to the estate?

   Because your grandmother died without a will—or “intestate” in legal jargon—her property will be distributed according to the formula set out in state law: mostly likely, divided equally among the surviving four children.
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9. Does a name on a deed override the name in a will if the deed is dated after the will?

   Sounds as if the deed rules here. If your mother changed the legal owner of the house to your sibling, then the property was not in her estate when she died, so what the will states about it no longer has any effect.
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10. Can I refinance with a life estate?

    The situation you describe is such a complicated puzzle that there is likely lots more to the picture and to the solution than finding a lending company that will agree to refinance your house.
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11. How do I protect my daughter's portion of my estate?

    You can best protect your daughter’s interests by being as specific as possible about your wishes and recording them in estate planning documents, such as a trust or will.
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12. Co-owned bonds - if one dies, do they belong wholly to the other?

    There are two answers to your first question. Full ownership of the bonds that are in your joint names will pass to the other joint owner without having to go through probate at the time of the death of the first joint owner. However, for estate tax purposes, the amount of the value of the bonds that...
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13. Is there a time limit to settle an estate?

    You ask "Is there a time limit to settle an estate?" Unfortunately, the answer is usually no. The phrase "settling an estate" can have two meanings: First, it can mean that the estate must go through probate, the court-lawyer ridden process required of most property left by wills...
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14. Can my stepfather keep us from seeing Mom and getting her will?

    In a weird way, your mother’s fall might have offered you an opportunity. Now that she’s safely ensconced in a facility while mending, her husband no longer controls who comes to see her and when. So you and your brothers may now be able to reestablish some relationship with her, even if she sometimetimes may seem addled or forgetful...
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15. Do you need a will if you don't have any assets?

    I doubt if your grandmother needs a will. As you grandmother has no assets, aside from funds in her joint account with her daughter (your mother), what purpose would a will serve? The cautious, conventional lawyer's response would be—of course she needs a will; everyone does. I disagree with this coconventional wisdom...
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16. We lost our will from 25 years ago. What can we do?

    You have lost your will, which you made twenty-five years ago.It is unlikely—I'd say highly unlikely—that your will would have been filed in your local (county) courthouse. Normally, wills are not filed with any government agency after they have been prepared. Wills are generally filed only after thr the will writer dies, as part of a probate proceeding...
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17. How do I get my siglings to waive ownership of our deceased father's cars?

    Sorry, I cannot answer your question. What forms you need—if any exist—are matters of Ohio law. Every state has its own laws and rules controlling cars registered in that state. I practice law in California. While I am familiar with general rules and methods of estate planning, which are similar is ...
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18. Can our adult children be excluded from my ex-husband's will?

    Whether your children are entitled to any property from your ex-husband's estate (property) depends on whether he has excluded them from his will or not. A parent can legally disinherit a child or children from inheriting any property from his or her estate...
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19. Will the bill collectors come after Dad's estate?

    Generally, If/when your father dies, his creditors would legally be entitled to collect what he owed them before any of his small estate could be passed to family members or other inheritors. The technicalities of how the creditors would collect depend on:
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20. How does an estate bank account get established?

    You want to know how to establish an estate bank account. The first question is who was authorized by your mother to handle her affairs after her death. The usual way to accomplish that is by naming an executor in a will. Did your mother leave a will? If you, were you named as her executor?
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