In many cases, people inherit assets individually. For example, an elderly person may have two adult children as their primary beneficiaries. They could split financial accounts evenly between them. For tangible assets, such as family heirlooms, they might decide...
Movies and television would have you believe that when someone dies, their will is read, and everyone immediately receives their inheritance. That typically doesn't happen in real life. Many factors determine how long the probate process will take, starting with the...
Taking responsibility for someone's estate involves accepting a lot of personal responsibility. Family members and beneficiaries look to the representative of an estate to inform them about the status of the probate process and may pressure them to give them their...
Someone's estate plan can include a variety of different instructions and requests. There may be language designating certain people as the recipients for certain property and instructions about the care of dependent family members. Testators often invest a lot of...
An executor has many duties, including communicating with beneficiaries. An estate's beneficiaries have a right to information. So, what should you communicate to the beneficiaries of the estate you are overseeing? Here are three things to communicate: Inclusion in a...
A key step in the probate process is submitting the decedent's will to the court for approval. Until the judge accepts the will as valid, the process cannot move forward and the decedent's heirs and beneficiaries cannot receive their inheritances. Five will...
When a loved one passes away, their estate must go through a legal process known as probate. During probate, the estate is divided up among the beneficiaries listed in the will. If there's no will, the state gets to decide how to divide up the assets. One common way...
Probate is the term for the legal process of verifying the authenticity of a will. The people who are responsible for opening the estate of a decent and submitting the will for the probate process should follow certain steps. If you're a South Carolina resident, here...
As an assigned executor in South Carolina, you're tasked with administering an estate. This process typically consists of paying off debts, collecting annuities and selling property. The time you'll need to spend varies; some possessions need a good year before a...
When a person dies with a will, that document names a personal representative to execute the deceased person’s estate. Perhaps you knew ahead of time that your loved one named you as the personal representative, or perhaps you only discovered the fact after their...