Unfortunately, due to hidden resentments, siblings still tend to end up in court suing each other and losing great chunks of their inheritance in the process all too frequently.
An Uncle (or grandparent, sibling, or parent) died, leaving his IRA to one named niece (or grandchild, sibling, or child). However, everyone, including the named beneficiary, agrees–the decedent should have named all members of the class as equal beneficiaries. After all, he left all his other assets equally to all the class members. He surely meant for all of them to share the IRA equally too, right? Can’t we just ignore this mistake and pay out the IRA to everybody?
No one has to accept inherited assets. Inherited assets can be disclaimed.
My daughter, my only child, recently married a nice man. However, he is not responsible with his finances. I don’t want my son-in-law to have any access to her money or through a divorce via equitable distribution.
I am a resident of Florida. I would like to leave my condo in Florida to my friend’s daughter, who I consider my stepdaughter, after my death. She is a resident of New Jersey and they would use the condo as a vacation home. Will she be considered my daughter for tax purposes, and which state’s tax laws will count?
The saying goes that anyone who does not learn from mistakes in the past, is doomed to repeat them. In estate planning, if you do not learn from other’s mistakes, you are likely to repeat them.
Usually, when you make a simple change in the title from tenants in common to joint tenants, the taxing authorities will ignore that change.
All real estate investors need to consider what to do with all of their real estate assets when estate planning. After all, the last thing you want is to have your will end up in probate court, where it could be years before your estate settles. With that in mind, here are some options on how to include real estate investments in your will.
James Brown died on Christmas Day 2006. However, almost 15 years later, litigation over his estate rages on. The Godfather of Soul had bequeathed the majority of his assets to underprivileged students in South Carolina and Georgia, but not a single scholarship has been given, pointed out Donald W. Beatty, Chief Justice of South Carolina’s Supreme Court.
The fortunate cat has starred in magazine spreads, had makeup lines named in her honor and is the inspiration for the novelty novel Choupette: The Private Life of a High-Flying Fashion Cat.