Many people put off making a will until they absolutely have to. Some never do it at all, thinking it’s morbid or unnecessary. But what if you have a loved one who has made a will and you suspect that the document is not valid? There can be legitimate reasons for your...
Payable-on-death designations are used on all kinds of financial accounts, including savings and checking accounts. They provide an easy (and immediate) way for money to transfer to someone else as soon as the owner of the account passes away. But a payable-on-death...
The probate process can be long and tedious for those involved, especially if there is a dispute. Probate happens for many estates in Ohio, but when an estate plan is set up correctly and everything goes smoothly, it usually takes between six months and a year. When...
There may be surprises in store when a loved one dies. These can be pleasurable ones, such as finding out your aunt left you a fortune you never knew she had. Or, they can be less pleasant. Perhaps the most disappointing of all is finding out that a family member is...
When individuals speak about details that may delay the estate planning process, they often mention challenges in locating beneficiaries and selling off assets to facilitate the distribution of assets to heirs. Sometimes, however, the disputes are personal. Many...
Guardianship involves providing care and support for someone who can not do so for themselves. Parents are typically the guardians of their children, although other people can also serve a guardianship role. Parents name guardians in their estate plans so that someone...
Questions about undue influence may arise once a case once someone passes away. One heir may allege that another used undue influence to have the elderly person alter their will. The basic premise of this argument is that the person didn’t want to write their will...
There is so much involved in being an executor for someone's estate that it is essentially a full-time job. You may need to devote dozens of hours of your life to handling paperwork, making phone calls and resolving financial issues. In addition to all of that work,...
An irrevocable trust is forever, right? Well, not necessarily. When a trust no longer seems to serve the purposes for which it was intended or the laws have changed in ways that no longer work well with the terms of the trust, an old trust can sometimes be “decanted”...
Your parents had a life insurance policy, and they counted it as a major part of their estate. When they passed away, though, you found that the designation was not what you’d expected. You’re not named and you’ll get nothing. Can you dispute this? In some cases,...
