We are in our late sixties and our estate consists of the equity in our mortgaged homes and life insurance to be divided between three children. Our daughter and granddaughter live in one home and we live in the other. Our goal is to avoid probate and while we plan to age at home, doing this may... View More 
answered on Aug 26, 2017
You need to do Estate planning and set up Revocable living trust (feel free to read more info on how Revocable trust operates on my website below it has comprehensive tutorials).
The best thing to do is to do a Triest, transfer all your real estate and bank accounts into such trust and... View More
answered on Jun 24, 2017
You shouldn't need to do that, and filing liens inappropriately can get you into trouble.
You should seek local legal representation to determine whether or not you need to file a claim against the estate, but more likely if you are an heir you don't even need to do that. Without... View More
Do I involve the courts?
answered on Jun 17, 2017
If there are no beneficiaries named on cash accounts and the accounts are in your Father's name alone at the time of his death, you will HAVE to involve the Courts in some way to make the distribution.
If there were beneficiaries on ALL the accounts or ALL of them were jointly owned,... View More
Quick Deeds so I can file the house into my name but there's still a mortgage how do I remove the executor off of the estate without going through probate so I can assume the loan
answered on Mar 10, 2017
I think you mean they signed 'quit claim' deeds. Regardless, if the house was left in a will or otherwise did not pass directly to you, you will need to have the executor / personal representative assign the house (and the mortgage) to you (or to all the siblings -- however the will is... View More
They are not biologically his. But he has been their "dad" their whole lives. Power of attorney work?
answered on Dec 2, 2016
The power of attorney ceases to be effective upon your death, so that won't work. The foolproof way is to have your spouse adopt the children. If that is not possible, you should designate your spouse as the children's guardian in your will, and express your preference that they... View More
A prospective bank for the funds insures accounts up to $250,000 per EIN. Would it be possible to obtain multiple EINs in order to gain more insurance for the trust?
answered on Jul 6, 2016
Probably not for that reason.
The IRS says:
You will be required to obtain a new EIN if any of the following statements are true.
* One person is the grantor/maker of many trusts.
* A trust changes to an estate.
* A living or intervivos trust... View More
My brother, sister, and I have been named co-executors for my Mother's estate. My Mother lived in the State of Virginia. I live in the State of Washington. Will I need to travel to Virginia to sign documents in person?
answered on Oct 28, 2015
No. Mail ( or FedEx, UPS, etc.) is available between Washington State and Virginia.
We'd prefer not to set up guardianship for our 16 year old since there is no one suitable to take her. We have a trust set up in our will with an executor to handle her finances from our estate.
answered on Sep 8, 2015
Probably not. Go to see an attorney about this for the specific legal advice you need.
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