How Changes to Portability of the Estate Tax Exemption May Impact You
The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance extending the time that executors have to elect portability.
What Are Survivor Benefits?
The Social Security Administration provides survivor benefits to the children and spouses of deceased individuals who qualify.
What to Do With an Inherited IRA
Inheriting an IRA may seem like a good thing, but there can be tax consequences if you aren’t careful.
Probate | Estate Planning | Trusts | Wills
Probate v. Non-Probate: What Is the Difference?
When planning your estate it is important to understand the difference between probate and non-probate assets.
What Happens to Your Online Content When You Die?
More and more of the music, movies, and books we own exist only online, in digital form. What happens to these collections after the owner’s death? You may be surprised at the answer.
What Is Required of a Personal Representative?
Being the personal representative of an estate is not a task to take lightly. A personal representative is the person responsible for managing the administration of a deceased individual’s estate. Although the time and effort involved will vary with the size of the estate, even if you are the personal representative of a small estate, you…
The Basics of Estate Administration
Estate administration is the process of managing and distributing a person’s property (the “estate”) after death. If the person had a will, the will goes through probate, which is the process by which the deceased person’s property is passed to his or her heirs and devisees (people named in the will). The entire process, supervised…
A Letter of Instruction Can Spare Your Heirs Great Stress
While it is important to have an updated estate plan, there is a lot of information that your heirs should know that doesn’t necessarily fit into a will, trust or other components of an estate plan. The solution is a letter of instruction, which can provide your heirs with guidance if you die or become…