If a house is jointly inherited, meaning it is shared by more than one person, then the executor of the will would have the right to sell this property if the will itself says that the executor may do so without the permission of the court. If there is no mention of this, then the…
In the event that one of your family members passes away, if the credit account is solely in the decedents name, then only the decedents estate is liable to the credit card debt. This means any assets or money that the decedent left. For example, if a person owned any property at the time of…
Massachusetts General Laws chapter 191, section 13 says “A person having custody of a will, other than a register of probate, shall, within thirty days after notice of the death of the testator, deliver such will into the probate court having jurisdiction of the probate thereof, or to the executors named in the will, who…
Sometimes a parent has recently passed away and their child can’t find the Will which they believe was drafted many years ago. Here are some suggestions about how and where to start looking for a lost Will: First, you should go through any papers and if you do not find the Will, be on the…
In general all the property that the deceased owned at the time of death will be part of the probate estate. However, there are some exceptions that do not go through probate. One exception is property held in joint tenancy. A jointly owned asset will transfer to the surviving spouse or whomever the property was jointly owned…
Before you can recover damages you will need to prove that trust mismanagement has occurred. You will generally need to prove that the trustee did not act in the best interest of the trust beneficiaries. For example, you may be able to prove that the trustee had a conflict of interest and acted in the best interest…
“Interrorem” in Latin means to “put one in fear.” An “Interrorem Clause” can be inserted into a Will and basically states that if any person provided for in the Will files a Will contest, that person will lose any bequest or benefit provided for them in the Will. This is often helpful to stop someone from challenging…
This month’s ABA Journal Magazine had a really great article about the pros and cons of probate administration. Probate is the court procedure that allows for the oversight of a deceased’s will and estate. They make sure that assets and legacies go where the deceased wished it to go. In recent years and even in…