Category Archives: Probate, Trusts, Wills & Estates

Probate, Trust, Wills and Estates Law deals with administration of a deceased person’s estate. Probate legally passes title and transfers assets to the heirs listed in a Will. Trusts are not administered through the probate process and the terms of a trust are not disclosed to the public.

Need to sell house when parents pass away I am sole name on deed and morgage of…

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Need to sell house when parents pass away
I am sole name on deed and morgage of a $1.4M home. My parents built house on my property for retirement. We have split morgage (200K) and tax payments for 10 years. They now are preparing a living trust and wish me to sign a quit claim. My wife also now wishes to be on the deed. I have three sisters which I assume will be spliting the estate of my parents when they pass 25% to each of use. My question is if I will need to sell my house to pay my sisters there share of the house when my parents are gone. Also the gentleman coming Thursday says a quit claim will not work as my wife now also wants in. I purchased the home when I was single. I am confused and don’t know what to think. I wanted to retire here also……..Thanks

Probate My brother passed away in CA.

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Probate
My brother passed away in CA. We were able to find a living will but have not found a Last Will and Testament that he previously told us he had and that we were his representatives for. There is also a old life insurance policy leaving proceeds to a friend he had over 20years ago and has not had contact with for the last 10years. We have been unable to contact this person plus our brother has told us that he changed his beneficiaries in his will. Since we have been unable to find any finalized information would a Letter of Testimentary give us the ability to handle his estate (less than $100,00) or do we need to go through probate? And what happens to his life insurance policy ? Would the letter of Testimentary or Probate help us deal with that issue?

Wills and Trusts, do we need both?

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Wills and Trusts, do we need both?
My father died about a year ago, and my mother had a living will prepared a while ago. There is only me and my sister in the family. I was told that a will is sufficient, and that you don’t need a living trust. But now I’m hearing that if you don’t have a living trust along with a will, someone can contest it, and it can end up in probate. I want to avoid this. So my question is: do you have to have a living trust along with a will to avoid probate?