Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She ...

Can You Settle an Estate Without Probate? In certain situations, it is possible to settle an estate without going through probate. Assets held in joint ownership, assets with named beneficiaries (such ...

One of the most effective tools in the estate planning process is a trust, which can offer significant advantages-including the ability to bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process. Trusts, ...

This is the third installment of my seven-part series on major estate planning mistakes. The first two are here and here. Not avoiding probate. When an asset passes to others through a will, it has to ...

In financial law, an "estate" refers to all of the assets and property owned by someone who has died. However, this definition can have a few different applications depending on where in the estate ...

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 ...

Probate can be a lengthy and complex process, leaving executors eager to find ways to expedite it. Familiarizing yourself with the legal procedures and documentation required to settle an estate ...

Unless you're a lawyer, there's nothing good about the probate process. Probate is basically a drawn-out clerical process meant to confirm that the deceased's will is being honored. Unfortunately, a ...

Probate is known for being an unnecessarily complicated and lengthy procedure. Even when the estate being probated is fairly simple and straightforward, proceedings can go on for some time, depending ...

Southern California estate planning and probate law firm continues helping families protect assets, avoid costly ...

Before shifting my practice from estate planning to estate litigation, I witnessed up close the challenges and frustrations associated with the California probate process. That has changed for many ...