Nothing beats an attorney giving you personal service tailored to your needs, because mistakes are very expensive in this field. BUT, yes, FreeWill is reputable and honest.

No.

It is past time to go to the court and ask for a restraining order. Your local courthouse will have a free clinic that can advise mom on how to do it, they will prepare the papers and point he in the right direction. Financial abuse, violence or the threat of violence and isolating from family... Read more »

Yes, but be VERY careful.

Some trusts are very complex and some aren't. The trick is to make sure that you only change what you want, without effecting any other part.

Don’t gift away large assets!

This is all about your tax basis in the asset. The tax basis is the amount the IRS uses to figure out your profit when you sell, so they can tax the profit. Usually, this amount is the purchase price.

If you give someone an asset, you also give... Read more »

That depends on how the deed is worded. If it lists you as a joint tenant with rights of survivorship then you are now the full owner and skip Probate, but you need to file an affidavit with the county clerk and show them the death certificate to get the house recorded in your name alone.... Read more »

If she left it in a Will then you have to go through the Probate Court and get the court to order the new deed.

If she used a Trust then you could skip that step.

You bypass Probate. But you need to file an Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant with the County Clerk. The clerk's web site will have the form.

It sounds like only the first deed is valid. Jack & Jill were not the owners as individuals at the time of the second execution, that is, if the second transfer was as individuals as you imply.

Probably she gets everything if there is no divorce and no Will or Trust that says differently.

If they are divorced then she gets nothing.

If they have children then they get a share.

She can grant you Power of Attorney if she has the capacity to.

It sounds like it might be too late for her to sign anything. In that case you have to get the court to grant you a conservatorship. It will require a form from her doctor plus a pile of papers, and an investigator will... Read more »

Do you mean to do the Probate, or to do the planning?

For Probate, then yes local will be best.

For estate planning, find someone you are comfortable with. Location won't matter.

If she is receiving SSI then sudden money will kick her off, probably. If she is getting regular SS then that won't stop, but it may make some of it taxable.

The Special Needs Trust would have to be a Pooled Trust because of her age. A charity runs it and decides how to spend the... Read more »

TIC, or put it in a Trust.

Joint tenancy would mean that when A dies, B gets it all. B may not remember or want to give assets to the children of A. B might just meet a new person after the funeral and forget A completely! It happens, and poor A's kids get left out in the cold.... Read more »

It should go to your wife's estate.

A Will or a Trust normally has provisions regarding this sort of situation, but unless the 401K administrator had the brother sign something unusual, then the money would still go to the estate of your wife. But check with the administrator.

In California you need to have your sister appointed Conservatorship. There are two ways to do it: of the Person and of the Estate. The Person is way easier and will take care of all you say you need.

Grantors and Trustees.

Nobody else gets a say in the matter.

None. Ish.

When she passes the house to you, it gives you a stepped up basis with regard to capital gains taxes. Her tax basis was what she paid but yours will be what the value was when she died (good for you financially). So you will only be taxed on any gain from the date of her... Read more »

One solution I have seen is to issue her non-voting shares. These will have 40% less value than a regular voting share because they have no control. That would allow you to give them to her at $25,000 per year without filing a gift tax return.

Being the oldest doesn't help. Someone petitions the Probate Court to be the administrator. If the siblings object then the judge will yell at them to find a solution they can agree on, like even a professional service.