Your mother can do whatever she wants and, according to the law, she needs to be the one to prepare her Trust or Will however she wants. If a beneficiary is not interested in taking care of a sibling, it would be better to put that sibling's inheritance in a trust that someone else (a friend... View More

Your father needs a Trust, not a Will. Here’s why. Each state has a dollar limit for purposes of determining whether a deceased person’s loved ones either: (1) are free to distribute the assets as soon as all final bills are paid off; or (2) must go through a years-long court process called... View More

Whether language is contained in the body of a document or in an attachment that is incorporated into the body makes no difference from a legal standpoint. It’s all part of the same document. Yes, your lawyer should have honored your request to draft the document the way you wanted it. But... View More

I will start by saying this: You really need to get the assistance of an estate planning lawyer because it does not appear that you understand how trusts work or what your mother's trust says. First, I don't know any lawyer who would write a trust with four people named as successor... View More

There is an area of law called “squatter’s rights”, which allows people who continuously live by themselves in vacant property for a certain period of time to apply for ownership. Each state has different rules and requirements to gain ownership. It’s hard to tell if these laws apply to... View More

Anyone can place their real estate and other assets into a revocable trust (a trust that can be changed or modified by the owner, who is called a Settlor or Trustor) at any time and there shouldn’t be any tax consequences. Schedule A to the trust should list the corporation as an asset of the... View More

It’s hard to know what you need. Most courts have a self-help center that can assist you with what form to use, but they cannot advise you after that because the people working there are not lawyers. Start there because it’s free. If you still need help after that, you’ll need to hire a... View More

Trustees are required to give all beneficiaries a formal Notice To Beneficiaries that says you are entitled to see a complete copy of the trust. I assume the successor trustee is not represented by a lawyer, so she is making up her own rules as she believes is best. If she were represented by an... View More

There are two key legal principles everyone needs to know about.

(1) The law allows people to do whatever they want with their own assets. This means no one can force your parents (or you!) to give their assets to a specific person or charity they don’t want to. In fact, if someone does... View More

If the person who died has $184,500 or less in his/her/their estate, then yes, a Small Estate and an original death certificate should be enough. But many banks have their own forms they require people use. On the other hand, if the person who passed had assets valued at more than $184,500, you... View More

A lawyer would need more facts to answer your question. If the person who set up the trust (called a Settlor) personally, voluntarily sold the item specifically mentioned in a trust so the Settlor no longer owned it at the Settlor’s death, it’s possible the beneficiary would get nothing, but... View More

If the trust is truly revocable then the person who set up the trust (called a Settlor or Trustor) can change the trust however that person wants. Beneficiaries and others who don't like what the Settlor does with his/her/their own money and other assets cannot do a thing. So, the person who... View More

If a parent leaves assets to his or her children, the in-laws are generally not included. So, unless the daughter-in-law is specifically listed in the trust or will, she shouldn’t get a cent. You should IMMEDIATELY hire a lawyer to help stop the bleeding.

No one has an automatic right to inherit their parents’, grandparents’ or anyone else’s assets. I deal with this misconception all the time. Here’s how it works: People have the right to do whatever they want with their own assets. Including you! So, if someone wants to leave their... View More

"Joint tenancy" means the last one to survive takes all of the property. In other words, if your father dies first, you get 100% of the property, but if you die first, your father gets 100% of the property regardless of what a Will or Trust may

say. You should be aware that a... View More

I’m a California lawyer, not a Georgia lawyer, but I can say you DEFINITELY need a lawyer to advise you. Assets like retirement do not go through probate because they go directly to the person named as a beneficiary. So, where you are seeing conspiracies and fraud, the courts would not — at... View More

Your mother can’t add you to the title (which would give you partial ownership) because the reverse mortgage company could say the entire loan is due NOW. The mortgage company used your mother’s home as collateral for the loan and, if your mom gives away part of her property, she is... View More

You will get a form template document from any online company. If your situation needs trust language that doesn’t come as part of their standard forms, I don’t know how the online companies would handle that. Perhaps they charge an extra fee or perhaps you just don’t get the best language... View More

The beneficiary doesn’t own a percentage of the real estate until the current owner dies or sells it to the beneficiary. If the current property owner decided to leave the property to her favorite charity and update her Will (or trust) to reflect that change, the currently-named beneficiary would... View More

Your parents need to set up a trust and re-title the home into the name of the trust. Also, if you are getting government benefits and your inheritance would kick you off the benefit program(s), your parents can have your inheritance go into a Special Needs Trust for your benefit. Your parents... View More