It’s easy to create a plan to pass financial accounts directly to heirs before you die and avoid the probate process after death. All you have to do is complete a form from your financial institution ...

Before paying for complex avoidance strategies or leaving your family to navigate a mess, find out what probate looks like ...

Unless your loved one puts their estate into a living trust or similar legal arrangement, the fact of the matter is that their assets will likely need to pass through probate when they die. Probate is ...

In past weeks this weekly column has written about why you want to own your real estate until you pass away and the potential downfalls if you give your real estate to your kids before your death.

Before paying for complex avoidance strategies or leaving your family to navigate a mess, find out what probate looks like ...

One of the essential steps in the probate process is filing an inventory of all the assets that are part of the estate. This job is the responsibility of the executor, and it’s often no small feat. It ...

In mid-March, Boy Scout Troop 156 hosts its Winter Carnival. I make the following observation lovingly: "carnival" is a bit of a misnomer. Why? The Scouts trek to Wisconsin to cold-weather camp for ...

“FIRE YOUR BOSS!” That appealing advertisement no doubt caught the attention of thousands of New York Times readers on March 22. Next, they read, “Now you can work for yourself and profit from real ...