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Why Should I Make a Living Will? Planning for Incapacity

The decision as to whether you make a living will or not is entirely up to you. In making such a decision, you will need to contemplate situations which might leave you in a persistent state of unconsciousness or indeed cause your death. Understandably, these are situations you might prefer not to think about. However, with high-tech medicine adding years to our lives we all run the risk of being incapacitated before we die. This leaves some serious questions for you, and indeed everyone, to ponder and to plan for.

Consider what you would want to happen if a serious accident or illness left you in a situation where:-

• you were unable to speak, move, feel or, worse still, you were in constant pain;

• only a respirator and feeding tube were keeping you alive; or

• your quality of life was virtually non-existent and there was no real possibility of improvement.

Would you want to stretch your life out on life support or would you rather let nature take its course? Where would you want to draw the line? When should it end?

Unfortunately, far too many people actually find themselves, without warning and without the benefit of asking those questions, in those or similar situations. These people have no control over the medical care they are receiving. These people have no choice but to “live”. You can avoid this lack of control if you are practical. Consider your alternatives and make a choice.

If this choice is hard for you to contemplate, think of how it will be for your loved ones if you do nothing. If anything should ever happen to you, they will be the ones who will have to bear the emotional trauma of dealing with your permanent incapacity. They will be the ones that will have to visit you in hospital and make the tough decisions for you. They may even be the ones who have to consider how to foot the bill for years of hospital care notwithstanding that there might be no possible chance of recovery for you, They may even end up paying these bills themselves……

We don’t mean to scare you or to convince you that it’s right or wrong to make a living will. We are simply trying to prompt you to think —not to tell you what to think or what you should or should not do or think — just to prompt you into thinking about this very important matter for yourself.

Having the right to decide what medical treatment you receive, if any, during a terminal illness is what living wills are all about. It allows you to decide these things now, while you can. It is about doing it calmly and without any pressure, and then articulating your wishes in a legal document that will be there to guide your doctors, friends and family if you ever come into the emergency room unable to tell them what you really want.

The decision to make a living will is, of course, yours to make…….

How Can EstateBee Help You?

For more information on living wills, check out some of the living wills articles on our website and the discussions in our discussion forums, or ask one of our experts.

If you would like to make a living will, our Online Living Will Software will guide you step-by-step through the process. Help and information are available at each stage of the process, and our customer service team will be on hand to answer any questions you have.

If you prefer to read about living wills further, then we recommend our Healthcare Power of Attorney & Living Will Kit. It contains all the information and ready-to-use legal forms necessary to create a combined Healthcare Power of Attorney and Living Will.

For more information on living wills and our living will products, please contact our customer service team.

Who can be an Executor of a Will?

Usually, the person or people named as executors under the deceased’s last will and testament will be appointed as executors of the deceased’s will. In many cases, this will be a spouse, relative or close friend of the deceased. In other cases, the deceased may have chosen to appoint a lawyer or bank as executor.

In practice, a person making a last will is free to decide who to appoint as executor. There are however some legal restrictions. Certain states impose restrictions on who can act as an executor. Normally, a person will not be able to act as an executor if they are under the age of majority in their state, have been convicted of a felony or are not a U.S. citizen.

In most cases, the only real requirements are that you choose someone who is capable of doing the job and who is honestly willing to do it. Many people often agree to perform the role of executor when asked but never really expect to have to carry out the role. When the time comes, they realise the amount of work involved and decide not to act. In that instance, your alternate executor will be called upon to act – assuming you named an alternate executor in your will. Of course, that person could also refuse to act if they so wished.

If none of your named executors are willing to act, the court will appoint an executor in accordance with state law. This could be a family member or even a court appointed nominee such as a probate lawyer. Where a professional is appointed by the court to probate your estate, their costs will have to be paid for by the estate.

The important message in all of this is to choose your executor and alternate executor carefully. Speak with them before you nominate them in your will and ensure that they are genuinely willing to carry out the role. If they are not, choose someone else.

How Can EstateBee Help You?

If you are planning on making a will, then check out our Legal Will Kit and our book entitled Make Your Own Last Will & Testament. Each will guide you step-by-step through the process of making a last will and give you an in-depth overview of the things you need to consider when choosing an executor, including a detailed overview of the role of executor, executor’s liabilities, executor duties and responsibilities, and much more.

If you simply want to make a last will and testament, check out our Online Last Will Software. It will guide you step-by-step through the process of making a will. Detailed help and information are available at every stage.

Alternatively, if you are an executor and want more information on how to probate an estate, check out our book “How to Probate an Estate – A Step-by-Step Guide for Executors.” This book explores the entire probate process from the moment the deceased passes away right through to the distribution of assets. It is a must read for anybody considering taking on the role of executor or trying to navigate the probate process.

For more information on any of EstateBee’s products, please contact our customer service team who would be happy to help you.

What is an AB Living Trust? What are the Tax Benefits?

An AB living trust can be useful where the combined value of your estate and that of your spouse is likely to exceed the individual unified tax credit ($11.58 million in 2020 and $11.7 million in 2021). Federal estate tax law provides that, for the 2021 tax year, no tax will be assessed on a person’s estate if the value of their taxable estate, at death, was worth less than $11.7 million. Where the value of that estate exceeds this amount, the excess is taxed at the current rate of 45%.

Generally, one spouse or partner will leave their entire estate to the other spouse partly to allow the survivor to have the benefit of their assets and partly because the transfer is tax-free. However, if as a result of this transfer, the value of the surviving spouse’s estate ultimately ends up exceeding the unified tax credit at the time of his or her death, then estate tax will be payable on the excess. This charge to tax, or rather part of it, can be avoided with proper planning. The use of an AB Living Trust is one such method that can achieve this.

With an AB Living Trust, on the death of one of the spouses, the trust splits into two separate trusts – Trust A and Trust B. Trust A is commonly referred to as the “Bypass Trust,” “Credit Shelter Trust,” or “Family Trust.” Trust B is commonly referred to as the “Marital Trust,” “QTIP Trust,” or “Marital Deduction Trust.”

Assets equal to the value of the estate tax threshold amount are transferred to the deceased spouse’s Trust A for the benefit of the beneficiaries – usually his or her children. The remainder of the trust assets is transferred to Trust B. There is however one very significant caveat. The terms of the AB Living Trust provide that the surviving spouse will become a “life beneficiary” of Trust A. As such, the survivor can have the use and benefit of the assets in Trust A for the rest of their life without being given complete ownership of any of it! The surviving spouse can therefore use all of the income generated from the property in Trust A for their own support and upkeep, but they cannot sell the assets or deal with them in any way.

When the surviving spouse dies, all of the trust property in both Trust A and Trust B is distributed to the beneficiaries in accordance with the terms of the AB Living Trust. As the deceased spouse’s share of the trust property was never transferred to the surviving spouse, the deceased spouse is still able to avail of the $11.7 million estate tax exemption. As such, the deceased spouses $11.7 million in Trust A can be passed on to his beneficiaries tax-free. Similarly, the surviving spouse’s (who is now dead incidentally) $11.7 million can also be transferred tax free to her beneficiaries. This, in essence, means that the beneficiaries, who are most likely the children of the couple, can receive a combined amount of $23.4 million tax-free – an amount which is far in excess of the amount which they would have received under the terms of a will or an ordinary living trust which contain no tax panning provisions.

It has been said that the importance of an AB Living Trust diminished after 2011 when Obama brought in new legislation which allowed one spouse to transfer any unused estate/gift tax exemptions to the other, and the estate tax exemption began to increase substantially. However, with the election of Joe Biden as president, and his declared intention to reduce the estate tax exemption to $3.5 million, we may well see a renewed surge in the use of an AB Living Trust for tax planning purposes.

How Can EstateBee Help You?

If you would like to make an AB Living Trust, check out our book “Make a Living Trust & Avoid Probate.” It contains all of the information and forms you need to make an AB Living Trust. It also includes a detailed explanation of how AB Living Trusts work, transferring assets to the living trust, selecting successor trustees, creating sub-trusts and UTMA custodianships for young beneficiaries, and much more.

For more information, contact our customer service team who would be happy to answer any question you may have in relation to living trusts or your other estate planning needs.

Advantages of Funeral Planning for You and Your Family

There are several distinct advantages to funeral planning, and indeed planning your own funeral. We will introduce some of these benefits to you below.

Lets Your Loved Ones Know What You Want

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is adding funeral instructions in their Will only and nowhere else. This often has the unfortunate consequence that the deceased’s wishes regarding their funeral service never become known until it’s too late. One of the main advantages of funeral planning is that, by planning your own funeral and clearly documenting your wishes, you can ensure that this type of oversight is avoided. Of course, the avoidance of this problem is very much dependent on your executors and family being made aware that you have made a funeral plan and knowing where and how to locate it when the time comes.

Reliving Your Loved Ones of Difficult Decisions

Advance funeral planning will relieve your family of a huge burden and strain during an already difficult period. You can remove the necessity of having them make important decisions regarding your funeral ceremony. Consider, for example, the simple turmoil caused by your family being unsure as to whether you would prefer burial or cremation or even where you would prefer to be interred (if that was your preference). These are important considerations especially when your family is worried about making the wrong decision…..remember whatever decision they make is final and they will have to live with any resulting guilt, doubt or worry.

All of this can be avoided with some good funeral planning and a good funeral plan. You can make all the important decisions regarding your final arrangements. You can decide whether to donate organs, whether to opt for a full traditional funeral or a simple memorial service, whether to opt for cremation rather than burial, what you want done with your ashes or where you want to have your remains interred, and so on. Making these decisions yourself will greatly help your family and, of course, by getting them involved right from the start of the funeral planning process you will ensure that no difficult decisions will be required in their time of difficulty.

Reducing the Costs of Your Funeral Service

A funeral service can be quite costly, so it usually pays to shop around. Often people tend to pick the funeral home closest to them or the one that their family has always used. This does not however mean that you are getting good value for money. The services provided by different funeral homes can change dramatically from one to another. If you fail to check the prices offered by other funeral homes then you may be spending well over the odds and also putting yourself under unnecessary financial strain.

In going through the funeral planning process, you will be able to use your funeral plan to help you compare the costs of funeral service providers and identify many of the hidden costs that are often missed when costing funerals.

Removing the Financial Burden of Funeral Costs

One of the major advantages associated with funeral planning is the ability to decide to have the cost of your funeral discharged after your death or even paying for it in advance. Given the costs associated with funerals, removing the burden of your family having to discharge these funeral costs after your passing can be a blessing to them.

There are three main options when it comes to making advance preparations to pay for your funeral. The first is simply setting aside an amount of money to pay for the plan, the second is paying for the plan in advance and the third is arranging to have insurance cover put in place to cover the cost of the plan when the time comes. By ensuring that your family has the funds necessary to pay for the funeral, or by paying for it in advance, you can make it a lot easier for them to implement your funeral plan when the time comes.

How EstateBee Can Help You?

If you would like more information on funeral planning, check out some of the other articles on our website. Alternatively, if you are looking for something a little more detailed and in-depth, check out our book Funeral Planning Basics.

Funeral Planning Basics is a comprehensive funeral planning book that will take you step-by-step through the entire process of planning and arranging your funeral. It will introduce you to issues such as organ donations, purchasing caskets, cremation, burial, funeral services and much more.

You will learn about all of the key aspects of the funeral planning process, what your options are, new trends in funeral planning (including ‘green burials’ and sea burials) and much, much more.

If you have any queries about our products or services, please feel free to contact our customer service team.

Using Undue Influence in Estate Planning to Contest a Will

In order to best explain claims of undue influence, it’s often helpful to set the scene a little. That can help with grasping the concept.

Often during the final years of a friend’s or relative’s life, somebody will take over the task of caring for them to a greater degree than the other people in their lives. This is sometimes due to the simple fact that the aged or sick person lives nearer to a particular friend or relative than to others. In addition, some relatives or friends may be better suited to dealing with the realities of sickness, age and dying than others. There are some people who do not have the temperament to be care givers for those they love dearly, because they cannot bear to see a parent decay and succumb to age and death, particularly if the process is prolonged.

Those who are elderly, sick and in need often attempt to show their gratitude for the care that they are being given through bequests in their will. It seems only fair that the relative who is actually caring for their loved one should be rewarded by the one who is being cared for. However, there is the potential that the other heirs want an equal share of the bequest regardless of who took care of whom in the final days of a person’s life. Sometimes, for no other reason than that they want to feel that they were loved equally and view an equal share of the will as a demonstration of that.

When this happens, a common means of contesting a will is employed that involves a claim of undue influence. This claim is often grounded in the idea that a relative exercised an extreme amount of coercive ability with respect to the deceased person. It must be true that the person who is claimed to have undue influence also received an ‘undue benefit.’

Claims of undue Influence are often combined with claims of a lack of capacity in one form or the other. The less forceful the waning personality of the deceased becomes in the eyes of the courts, the easier it is to establish the dominance that the undue influencer had over that person. After all, it is difficult to say that a strong, healthy, fully cognizant adult was duped by his/her insidious caregiver.

Of course, there are people who try to take advantage of those whom they care for, but there are a great many claims of undue influence raised by those that simply didn’t pay attention to their elderly loved ones, yet expect an equal share of a bequest.

Another interesting facet of undue influence claims is that they can involve the degenerated mental state of the will maker without relating that state to the property or to whom it goes. Part of the undue influence claim is showing that the person being influenced was unable to think clearly and that the person doing the influencing used that to their advantage. This is unfortunate, because the elderly often become more absent minded or less mentally acute than they once were, and yet they may still be attempting to reward a relative who has come to their aid when it mattered to them the most.

Undue Influence is also shown by proving an opportunity to exercise such influence. In one case a test of “psychological domination” was used to prove undue influence. But, the central question is always whether an unwarranted coercive force or ability existed and was exercised. This is problematic, in that there may be one child or relative whose advice really is important to the will maker, but that fact is not attendant to undue influence so much as a general respect for that person’s counsel.

Undue influence is a complicated claim. For more information on how to avoid a claim or take a claim, speak to an experienced estate planning attorney.

How Can We Help You?

For more information on estate planning, read some of the other articles on this website.

You can also check out our book Estate Planning Essentials. It introduces you to estate planning and shows you how you can make an effective estate plan quickly and easily without the need for a lawyer. You’ll learn about estate planning devices such as wills, trusts, powers of attorney, medical directives, probate avoidance methods and more. To help you get a fuller understanding, particular attention is paid throughout to beneficiaries, children, disinheritance, incapacity, estate taxes and inheritance taxes. If you want to prepare an estate plan, this book is for you.

If you have any questions about our products or services, please contact our customer service team, who would be delighted to assist you.

Should I Transfer Assets to a Living Trust to Avoid Probate?

One of the principal goals of any revocable living trust is to avoid probate and the costs and delays associated with it, with the general rule being that the more an asset is worth, the more it will cost your estate on probate fees. It follows therefore that you should, at the very least, consider transferring your most valuable assets to you revocable living trust. However, it is entirely up to you to decide to transfer assets to a living trust, and which assets to include or leave out of your revocable living trust.

You are free to transfer assets to a living trust as you please, including assets such as your home and other real estate, bank and saving accounts, investments, business interests, antiques, jewelry, personal belongings, royalties, patents, copyrights, stocks, bonds and other securities, money market accounts and so on.

In deciding to transfer assets to a living trust, always bear in mind that where you are acting as both the grantor and trustee of your own trust, you always have the right to call for the return of any assets you transfer into the revocable living trust.

The reality is that you don’t need to put everything into your revocable living trust in order to save money on probate. For example, there is no need to include items in your revocable living trust which can pass to designated beneficiaries automatically and outside of the probate net. Such assets include jointly held assets, pay on death accounts, transfer on death securities, insurance proceeds, etc. Remember, you are free to transfer assets to a living trust at your discretion and to also demand a return of those assets at your discretion.

How Can EstateBee Help You?

For more information on revocable living trusts, check out some of the other articles on our website and our discussion forum.

Alternatively, if you would like some more in-depth information on living trusts, check out our Living Trust Kit and our book Make Your Own Living Trust and Avoid Probate. Each will guide you step-by-step through the matters you need to consider when making a living trust. You’ll learn all you need to know about living trusts, their advantages and disadvantages, the tax implications, the alternatives to living trusts and, of course, how to easily make your own. With detailed information, easy-to-follow instructions, helpful worksheets and all of the forms necessary, we show both individuals and couples how to avoid the otherwise inevitable delays and costs of probate by preparing a revocable living trust and using other simple probate avoidance strategies.

If you have any questions regarding living trusts, feel free to contact our customer service team who would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Can I Create a Living Will Without the Help of a Lawyer?

The simple answer to this question is “No, you normally don’t need a lawyer to help you create a living will”. However, if you are someone that is not comfortable in preparing your own legal documents or simply don’t understand what living wills are all about then you should contact an attorney who will be able to create a living will tailored for you.

For those of you that feel confident enough to prepare your own legal documents, it can be a straightforward process to create a living will . There are numerous self-help legal books on the market which can adequately help you create a living will. These books typically give you background information on living wills and examples of living wills. In fact, many books contain the state approved versions of living wills. These are living will forms that have been specifically drawn up by the legislator of a state for use in that state. In the majority of cases, these state living will forms are offered as samples of the type of living will forms that can be used in a state rather than saying that this is the type of living will form that must be used.

In addition, there are also a number of websites offering online living wills. Online living wills are simply living wills that can be created online through the use of an interactive online question and answer process. You simply answer some questions about what you would like in your living will and the software program prepares a living will that suits your specific circumstances.

How Can EstateBee Help You?

If you would like to learn more about living wills, we have included a number of articles on this website which cover the basic questions asked about living wills. Feel free to read them and let us know if you have any more questions.

If you would like to create a living will, our Online Living Will Software will guide you step-by-step through the process. Help and information are available at each stage of the process, and our customer service team will be on hand to answer any questions you have.

If you have any queries about our products or services, please feel free to contact us.

Admitting a Will to Probate – What an Executor Should Do Beforehand

Before admitting a will to probate, and applying to the probate court for letters of authority to authorise an executor or personal representative to formally start the probate process, there are a number of tasks that the executor or personal representative must carry out. Before we look at these tasks, let’s start with an overview of what probate is.

Probate no longer simply means proving the validity of a last will and testament but rather has come to mean the entire administrative process involving the collecting of assets, payment of debts and the passing of a deceased person’s legal title to property to his or her beneficiaries. The person responsible for carrying out this administrative process is called an executor, legal representative or personal representative. He or she will also be responsible for admitting a will to probate.

Because a will is required for probate, one of the first tasks facing an executor will be to locate the will. Not only does the will specify how the deceased wished to distribute his or her estate but it should also confirm the name of the person that has been appointed as executor of the deceased’s estate. Once the last will is located, the next task will be to determine whether it is indeed a valid last will and testament on its face, ensuring for example that it has been signed by the testator and witnessed by the correct number of witnesses. Most states require that a last will and testament be witnessed by two witnesses (in Vermont, there must be three witnesses).

Assuming that the last will is validly executed, the next step will be to confirm that this is in fact the last will of the deceased, as generally only the last will has legal effect (new wills tend to revoke old wills in their entirety). This is why it’s important that a testator physically destroys any pre-existing wills and codicils when he or she makes a new will. At least, in that way, there can be no room for argument as to which will is in fact the testator’s last will.

Assuming that the last will appears in order, you will then need to determine whether probate is required and, if so, start the process of admitting the will to probate by applying for your letters of authority. In applying for probate, the probate court will also scrutinise the last will to make sure that it is valid. If the probate court accepts the will it will issue letters of authority to the executor, thereby admitting the will to probate and commenting the probate process. The letters of authority are evidence that the executor has been authorized to probate the estate of the deceased will maker.

How Can We Help You?

For more information on the process of admitting a will to probate and probating an estate, check out our book entitled How to Probate an Estate. It explores the process from the moment the deceased passes away right through to the distribution of assets. Items such as death certificates, autopsies, funeral planning and asset management are discussed at length. It will also show you how to initiate and close probate with ease, learn how to locate and manage estate assets, deal with creditors’ claims, taxes, and trusts, avoid the common mistakes made by many executors and much more….

If you have any questions or queries regarding our products or services, just contact our customer service team who would be delighted to assist you.

How to Make a Revocable Living Trust & Avoid Probate

For many, the mere thought of having to make a revocable living trust is a daunting thought. However, it doesn’t need to be. With the help of a good online living trust maker or living trust kit most people will be able to prepare their own documents.

Irrespective of the means you use to make your revocable living trust, there are a number of steps that you need to go through to make your trust.

Step 1: Do some research in to revocable living trusts and state laws and determine whether a living trust is right for you. If you are happy that it meets your needs, proceed to step 2 below.

Step 2: Make a list of all of the assets that you would like to transfer into your trust as well as a list of the people that you would like to receive those assets when you die. Remember that you can change your mind at any time after you create the trust.

Step 3: Get the necessary revocable living trust forms from an attorney, a legal kit or use an online living trust maker to prepare the forms for you.

Step 4: Consider whether you want to add any child sub-trusts or custodianship provisions to your revocable living trust agreement in order to provide for the management of property that you wish to give to young beneficiaries.

Step 5: Complete your living trust forms in accordance with the instructions for execution. Most pieces of online software and legal kits will give you clear instructions for completing your documents.

Step 6: Verify that you have legally transferred your assets to the revocable living trust. Remember, that in some cases, such as in relation to real estate, you cannot simply state in your living trust agreement that the property is transferred to the living trust. In fact, you must execute a separate deed of transfer for the property. If any asset is customarily transferred using a specific type of transfer deed, you will need to use that type of deed to transfer the asset to your living trust.

Step 7: Have your living trust agreement notarized and/or witnessed and, if necessary, recorded with your local county recorder’s office to make it official.

If you are in any doubt as to how to make a living trust or as to how they operate, you should speak to an estate planning attorney.

How Can We Help You?

If you would like to make a revocable living trust, check out our online living trust software. Its free to try and you can make a living trust in as little as 10 minutes. It’s also one of the leading estate planning softwares on the market.

If you have any questions about making a living trust or about any of our products or services, feel free to contact our customer service team who would be delighted to assist you.

How To Challenge a Will

Under the best-case scenario, a will is administered, and little or no disputes arise as to the distribution of assets to heirs and beneficiaries. However, there are circumstances in which an interested party listed in the will as an heir or beneficiary or a creditor seeks to challenge a will or contest the administration of the will. In these cases, a party seeking to dispute the administration of a will can present a will contest or as it is also referred to as a will challenge. A will contest involves an interested party presenting a claim to the probate court alleging that the administration of the will is improper. One can divide will contests into four major areas: challenge a will based on execution; interpretation; undue influence and fraud; and the enforcement of debt obligations against the estate.

Challenge a Will’s Validity
One of the most common issues leading to a will contest involves an interested party deciding to challenge a will based on allegations that is invalid either in how it was executed or its overall validity such as the fact that the will as a whole or certain portions of the will were the product of undue influence.

Firstly, a valid and legally binding will should be executed correctly in that it must comply with the technical requirements of a valid will. These technical requirements include

1. The will shall be signed by the testator, by some other person in the testator’s presence or by a conservator appointed by a court order.

2. A will typically should be witnessed by at least two persons. A will that does not comply with these requirements may be challenged by an interested party.

A will contest may arise if any of these requirements has not been met. Will contests of this nature allege that the will is invalid and should not be used as a reflection of the testator’s intent.

Challenging a Will’s Interpretation
A will’s executor works under the direction of the probate court to interpret any ambiguous clauses in a will. Ideally, ambiguous clauses in a will can be avoided through proper will drafting an estate planning; however this is often not the case and many wills to the detriment of estates contain ambiguous clauses that leave unclear directions as to how assets in the estate are to be disposed. Other cases arise whereby it is unclear whether a codicil or amendment to a will is to serve as an amendment to the will or serves to revoke the prior document in full. In these cases the will contest would center on evidence regarding testamentary intent which admittedly can be difficult in the absence of the testator.

Contesting a Will Based on an Allegation of Fraud of Undue Influence.
Situations may arise under which an interested party may challenge a will based on an allegation that the terms of the will were the product of fraud or undue influence. Will contests can center on whether a party may have exerted undue influence over the testator in order to secure some benefits from the estate. Common examples of this type of contest may arise from the fact a non-family member may have been included in a will to the detriment of family members. A will contest here may allege that the beneficiary may have exerted undue influence over the testator to secure a benefit from the estate. In these cases, the party contesting the will would be required to show through evidence that, but for, the undue influence or fraud of a third party, the testator would not have provided a gift to the beneficiary. The success of this type of will contest will hinge on whether a contesting party can establish facts that establish that third party acted with the intent to unduly influence or defraud the decedent to gain a benefit from their estate.

Contests to Enforce Debts or Other Contracts
An executor managing a decedent’s estate, must take into account all debts owed by the decedent. However not all debts may be apparent to the executor which may prompt a creditor to place a claim against the estate for money owed by the decedent. A will contest to enforce a debt or contract must provide sufficient proof, that while living, the decedent engaged was legitimately indebted to the creditor. In this type of will contest the probate court must look into the proof of the debt to determine if it is valid. However, it is important to note that creditor claims against an estate often are not paid on their full value if the estate does not contain sufficient assets to satisfy the claim. Further, certain distributions in an estate will hold priority status over creditor claims. Therefore, if there are insufficient funds to satisfy fully the claim the creditor making the claim may not be entitled to full recovery even if the debt is deemed valid.

Archives: Articles

Why Should I Make a Living Will? Planning for Incapacity

Who can be an Executor of a Will?

What is an AB Living Trust? What are the Tax Benefits?

Advantages of Funeral Planning for You and Your Family

Using Undue Influence in Estate Planning to Contest a Will

Should I Transfer Assets to a Living Trust to Avoid Probate?

Can I Create a Living Will Without the Help of a Lawyer?

Admitting a Will to Probate – What an Executor Should Do Beforehand

How to Make a Revocable Living Trust & Avoid Probate

How To Challenge a Will

Stay on top of the legal issues affecting your estate plan