The answer depends exclusively upon how you wish to have your trust identified.

In most instances, you are permitted to obtain a federal tax ID number for your Trust, but said number may not be required, depending on how the trust will be taxed. [ Read More… →]

A Last Will & Testament cannot create a binding “Life Estate” in real property, as it is not a deed.

Life Estates are created by transferring certain interests in a real property via a deed (i.e. a deed to a third party which retains a life estate in the grantor).

While a Last Will and Testament can certainly provide notice of the deceased person’s desires or intentions [ Read More… →]

Without addressing issues regarding the transfer between family members or what may or may not have been “intended”, once a deed is signed and filed with the appropriate county land office, the property is deemed transferred. [ Read More… →]

The consideration required in this question simply has too many variables to provide a “stock” answer. [ Read More… →]

If you are making a Last Will and Testament document for yourself or a close family member and know exactly what assets are to be disbursed to whom upon death, then completing the Will form should be a very short process — usually  15-30 minutes. [ Read More… →]

Payable on Death forms are a legitimate way to provide assets to a named beneficiary without going through Probate Court to do so. But there are a number of significant limitations to Payable On Death documents. And while creating a Living Trust is a bit more complicated to create and manage, a Trust offers several advantages when compared to simply listing or transferring assets to “Payable on Death” status. [ Read More… →]

Usually the Grantor of the Trust (the grandparents, in this case) names the trustee and alternate trustee. And typically, only the Grantor can make a change to the Trust, at his or her discretion, including who the acting trustee should be. [ Read More… →]

A Notice to Quit is only required when a landlord seeks to evict a tenant for the non-payment of rent. Thus, a Notice to Quit is not a part of a lease agreement; rather, it is a document that must be provided to the tenant prior to initiating eviction proceedings, as dictated by statute. [ Read More… →]

Unless there are unlawful terms and conditions included in the lease content, you are bound to the terms of the contract you signed. [ Read More… →]

Once a deed is signed by the Grantor (the seller), provided to the Grantee (the buyer), and then recorded with the appropriate governmental office, the property deed cannot be taken back. [ Read More… →]

A promissory note is a contract between two people that outlines the terms of repayment on lent money. Such a contract must be enforced as would any typical breach of contract: through court.

Standard Legal is unaware of any situation where a person could simply present a promissory note to a bank or employer to collect on money owed through the garnishment of wages or accounts. [ Read More… →]

Any property held in a decedent’s individual name at the time of death will be subject to probate; that process is unavoidable.

Through the probate process, the deceased person’s property ultimately will be transferred to the Trust pursuant to the terms of the pour-over will, so long as the Pour Over Will has been properly executed. [ Read More… →]

Standard Legal’s Employee Manual software is state-specific in a few select situations, and only where state law dictates such a requirement.

Remember, an Employee Manual should never re-publish a list or outline the details of a state’s laws, [ Read More… →]

Generally, a Last Will and Testament outlines the distribution of a person’s assets upon his or her death, while a Living Will defines the type of health care a person wishes to receive if incapacitated and unable to make such decisions directly.

In most instances, the person who is creating either one of these documents should [ Read More… →]

Most states in the USA require the same “legal language” for the different types of Deeds that are most commonly used (be it a Quitclaim Deed, a Warranty Deed, a Survivorship Deed, etc.). But some states have specific language requirements, and that means the use of specialized state forms in those situations. [ Read More… →]

Signing a well-written and correctly-completed Premarital Agreement form in front of a Notary would make the prenuptial agreement legally binding and valid in every state. But the “notarized signatures” are just one element to the validity of the document — and not the most important one. [ Read More… →]

A Premarital Agreement is a contract between two people who are contemplating marriage in the future. As such, the contract would not be valid if only one person was party to the agreement. [ Read More… →]

The forms in Standard Legal’s Premarital Agreement software provide that each spouse will treat his or her retirement account(s) as his or her own separate property. [ Read More… →]

Yes, under specific circumstances. Standard Legal welcomes companies, professionals and entrepreneurs who wish to make money from our legal forms software — but only when it is done through the programs and channels we have developed. [ Read More… →]

While the process of filing for personal Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is by no means “quick and simple”, there is most definitely a clear set of steps that must be followed to make it through the process. [ Read More… →]