| Inheritance Without Planning Means No Changing the Default Plan |
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| When a person dies intestate (without making and leaving a will), each state provides a default plan (usually known as the statute of descent and distribution) under with his or her net estate is disposed. When a person dies intestate, there is no changing the default plan. The default plan's sequences for determining who inherits and how much can not be changed. This article discusses the disadvantages of descent and distribution related to that inability to change who inherits and how much.More... |
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| Trust Apportionment |
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| When a trustee receives a distribution, it can be difficult to determine whether he should pay it to the beneficiary or add it to the "corpus" (the trust property). More... |
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| Probate -- Inventory and Payment |
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| Within one to three months (depending on the particular state) after the executor has been appointed, he is required by law to file a "complete" inventory of the estate's assets. The inventory is submitted to the court and, like all other papers submitted to the court, becomes a matter of "public record" (available to anyone who wants to look at it). Briefly, there are two reasons for the filing of the inventory. First, to indicate to the court the items of property for which the executor will later "account" to the court (tell the court in detail what he did with all these items when the estate is settled), and to let the beneficiaries, creditors, and all other interested parties know just what is included in the deceased's probate estate. If the executor delays or refuses to file an inventory, any interested party may ask the court to order him to file one, although if there are no disputes or contests, executors often file their inventories late.More... |
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| Basic Trust Types and Formation |
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| A trust may be formed for any purpose that is lawful and not against public policy. More... |
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| Trust Modification and Termination |
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| A court will modify a trust where the trust's leading purpose is frustrated by a specific directive made by the trustor.More... |
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