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| WILLS AND
PROBATE COURT |
A will only
affects certain property. It does not affect
life insurance policies on your life naming
someone else as beneficiary.
A will does not affect joint & survivorship
accounts, POD (pay on death) or TOD (transfer on
death) accounts, real and personal property
owned as joint tenants with rights of
survivorship, pension & profit sharing plans
naming someone else as beneficiary, or trusts
set up by you.
The probate estate is administered in the
probate court of the county where an individual
resides. When someone resides in two places, the
one he or she resides in most is usually
considered the place of residence. Creditors
make claims against the assets in the probate
estate. The probate court is open to the public.
Do you have any special funeral or burial
instructions? While you could put those
instructions in a will, a better procedure is to
make your arrangements ahead of time with a
funeral home.
A will can cover many different topics. You can
make provisions for surviving spouse, children,
parents/special friends, guardians of minor
children, charitable provisions, cancellation of
debts or the collection of debts. You can
establish a trust for yourself or spouse or
children by will. You can disinherit a child,
although this is not usually a good idea. You
can make provisions for continuing or
liquidating a business. You can provide life
estates to certain people and remainders to
others. You can name your executor(s) and
alternate(s) to handle your estate and make
provisions for posting or waiving the
requirement for a bond to be posted by the
executor. |
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