The custodian of the Will is required by law to "lodge" it with the Probate Court and start the process. The court appoints an Admiistrator and then supervises the distribution of the assets. It is kind of a long, annoying process which is why we use Trusts to avoid it.

If the... View More

I believe you are mistaken.

The UTATA allows a Pour Over Will but does not mandate any reference in the Trust. You can read the whole thing at... View More

NO!!!!!!!!

If you move the house into your name while they are alive then you will give up a HUGE tax advantage. Right now if the house is sold, your parents have a big tax liability for all the profit they make on the sale (probably). If they GIVE the property to you then you carry the... View More

You have to look at the Trust to see how it is written. When I write one I make it so you never have to worry about this problem and don't have to update your Trust every time anyone has a baby. I bet this Trust is written that way too, BUT a Trust can be written any way the client wants so... View More

Yes. The Statutory Will is designed to be foolproof, but if you have any special circumstances or want to get tricky then get some help. A professional will make sure you avoid Probate, plan for long term nursing care and avoid serious tax mistakes.

Terrible idea!

If you inherit the house instead of having it gifted, you save a ton of money on taxes. If you inherit then your tax basis is stepped up to the current value; if dad gifts it then you also get his tax basis. That means a huge difference in the taxable gain when you sell.... View More

To get a deed changed you need an order from the Probate Court, unless the property was in a Trust.

The Probate Court will look at the Will and hold hearings to make sure there are no problems, and then give an order for authority to distribute the assets. If there was no Will then you do... View More

No. You can do it but the county clerk does that so infrequently that you will just get a funny look from them. Also, this would make the document public, which most people don't want.

Keep the original safe, and I usually tell my clients to give the successor trustees a copy.

If you are specifically named as getting nothing, then all you can do is challenge the mental capacity of your father to make that decision. If he was in his full senses, then he has the right to exclude you if he wants to.

California. You live here and that is where the Will would be Probated.

Your estate sounds like it would use Simplified Probate (less than $160,000 and no real estate) so the Will won't go thorugh "real" Probate anyway.

The money goes to the estate of the deceased beneficiary. Then it is distributed based on their Will or the law (if they died without one).

First of all, tell Fidelity that she passed away. If it was a retirmenet account then there is a beneficiary named by her and Fidelity will want to send that person the money; no fuss, no muss. If that person is NOT YOU then you might want to get angry if the money was earned during your... View More

Is the property still held by the Trust? If it is, then only the Trust can say how it may be passed.

If the Trust closed down then the Trustee should have deeded the house to the five siblings; then if they want to pass you their 20% interest they can do so with a deed.

So you want to protect them from you ever changing your mind?

They only way I can think of doing that would be to have a new irrevocable trust (I am assuming your current one is a Living/Revocable Trust). As long as you are alive you can always change your Living Trust.

You could... View More

I am afraid that if her name is on the asset, then it belongs to her and the Will had no control over it (unless the deceased's name is on the asset too, in which case it gets harder and depends on exactly how the names are on the paperwork).

A letter won't do it because after her death, someone else will own the property and the letter won't have any power.

I am guessing that she wants him to be able to live there for X years, then the property will go to her heirs. That is done best in a Living Trust; it can also... View More

If it is her trust, then she probably has the authority to fire the trustee. You have to read the trust.

Go look up the documents.

Go to the Probate Court for the county where he lived and look him up. If there is a Will then it was filed there and you can see it. If not, then you will find out if the family has started other proceedings. If there is no Will, then you are entitled to a... View More

You can make any trust into a Grantor Trust, where the original grantor (settlor; the guy with the money) just keeps paying the taxes himself on his 1040. Trusts have a very high tax rate so most people do it that way.

When the grantor dies (even of a Living Trust) then you have to get the... View More

Yes, the need to make formal changes to these documents, except to change a Trust you make an Amendment. So, they want two Codicils and a Trust Amendment.

If you are doing it yourself, be VERY careful to make sure you write exactly what you want with no ambiguity.