Probate is the court-supervised process of validating a deceased person’s will. It involves identifying the person’s final assets, paying last debts and distributing property to the proper heirs. And ...

This is the third installment of my seven-part series on major estate planning mistakes. The first two are here and here. Not avoiding probate. When an asset passes to others through a will, it has to ...

Probate can be a lengthy and complex process, leaving executors eager to find ways to expedite it. Familiarizing yourself with the legal procedures and documentation required to settle an estate ...

Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She ...

After a death, settling a person’s estate typically triggers the probate process. This court proceeding, during which the ...

Nothing is certain, it is said, but death and taxes. Yet, many Americans know surprisingly little about the legal process that follows a loved one’s death. A new report, titled The State of Probate in ...

My mom died just over a year ago, and I’m still knee-deep in probate. I’m barely average. The typical probate process to settle a will or the estate of somebody who dies without one takes 20 months, ...

Your 401(k) doesn’t just disappear when you die. Here’s how it’s transferred, who gets it, the tax impact, and why ...

One of the most effective tools in the estate planning process is a trust, which can offer significant advantages-including the ability to bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process. Trusts, ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

If you will, allow us to present the hypothetical case of Pete Moneywise, a married, 78-year-old father of three who wants to get his financial affairs in order before his passing. Though he exists ...