Probate Attorney Blog

After giving you a bunch of sappy, punch you in the gut type of blogs lately, I decided it was probably about time for something a little more practical. But first (as always) a story. I’m working on a probate right now where the gentleman passed away rather suddenly. He was healthy, and then he was gone (yes, there’s a point in there about not waiting, but that’s for another day). When his family started trying to piece together his…

Why Naming Your Kids’ Guardian In Your Will Isn’t Enough When most parents think about guardians they think about long term guardians – who will watch their kids if they die. What most people fail to think about is a scenario that is probably more common than any – when an injury occurs and you don’t die but you have a significant recovery time. Imagine you are in a car accident. A bad one. And you aren’t killed but you…

“The estate tax is going to be repealed!” Those were the words I heard from several people today as I sat down for lunch with some friends. “We’re all going to be rich!” they said. Unfortunately, as always, I had to be the one to bring them back down to Earth… And, as often is the case, something that looks and sounds really good when you first hear it isn’t as good as you thought it was once you get…

Estate tax repeal? Not so fast my friend… Cheers, Christopher Small Estate Planning Attorney PS – Click here to schedule a FREE strategy session with an estate planning attorney.

How an Estate Planning Mistake Can Cost You Dearly I had a client come into my office recently to talk to me about probate. Their parent had just passed away and they needed help with the process of administering the estate. The good news was there was a will. This was important because there were nine kids involved, 6 of them step-kids. The person that died wanted to make sure all kids were treated equally and received and equal share….

This is one of those messages that is meant to scare you, but in a good way… I recently had a client come in and hire us to help them with the probate of one of their parents. They’d left a will dividing everything equally among the kids (which consisted of both natural children and step-children) and seemed like it would be pretty straightforward. Then they sent me the will. As I began my customary reading of the will to…

Should You Give Your House To Your Family While You Are Alive or Wait Until You Die? This is a question I’ve been getting a lot recently, so I figured I’d take some time today and break down for you some of the things you should be thinking about if you are considering either of these routes. Note: these are not ALL of the options available, just SOME of them. If you want them all, click here and schedule a…