If a person is not named directly as a beneficiary, administrator or executor in a Last Will and Testament, there is no legal requirement that a copy of said Will be provided to a person simply because they are a relative of the Maker. [ Read More… → ]

There is no requirement that any person leave any gift or bequest any piece of an estate to any child or children though a Will. Directing assets through a Will is at the discretion of the Will’s maker. [ Read More… → ]

There is a substantial difference between receiving assets distributed from a Will, and being named as a potential future beneficiary in a Will — as well as how that distinction is treated legally. [ Read More… → ]

A Power of Attorney document and a Last Will and Testament document are not “active” at the same time, so no overlap in function exists for one or the other to “take precedence”. [ Read More… → ]

If the terms contained within a Last Will and Testament and a Premarital Agreement contradict each other, the Probate Court judge assigned to your estate case would decide upon the appropriate application of the two documents as they relate to the distribution of your assets after death. [ Read More… → ]

Generally, in order to fund a Living Trust, a person must have ownership of an asset so that he or she can transfer the title to that asset into the name of the Trust. [ Read More… → ]

Changes made to an existing Last Will and Testament document should be witnessed and notarized to ensure the validity of the changes to others, after the death of the Will’s maker.

Since the process for changing an existing Will requires these steps, creating a new Will is often a better strategy for making updates to the content of a Will document. [ Read More… → ]

In most instances, life insurance benefits are paid to the person listed on the policy, notwithstanding the terms of any Last Will and Testament. [ Read More… → ]

In most states, a spouse cannot be “cut out” of a Last Will and Testament, even if it is a “new spouse” and an “old will”.  [ Read More… → ]

Joint accounts are owned only by those specifically participating in the account. In most cases, upon the death of one joint account holder, the remaining account holders continue to own the contents of the account.

Each state has its own rules regarding the time frame in which a Last Will & Testament must be submitted to the probate court for evaluation and execution.  [ Read More… → ]

A “personal representative” is better known as the Executor or Administrator of the Will: the person who oversees the distribution of assets as it is written in the Will, guiding it through Probate. [ Read More… → ]

Probate is the court that oversees the distribution of estates. When a Last Will and Testament are submitted to Probate, the judge reviews the Will, authorizes its validity, approves or disapproves its content, and oversees its execution as indicated in the content. [ Read More… → ]

Such a question requires a second question prior to answer: is the brother alive or deceased? [ Read More… → ]

A ‘residuary clause’ in a Last Will & Testament concerns that portion of the testator’s estate that is not specifically granted or bequeathed to someone in the other portions of the Last Will & Testament. [ Read More… → ]

If the changes to a Last Will and Testament or a Living Trust are significant, a person can create new documents to take the place of the existing documents. But a Will and Trust must be handled differently. [ Read More… → ]

If the Last Will & Testament document itself is made public record by the Probate Court, the codicil should also be made public as well, in typical circumstances.

That being stated, there may be state or local rules of the court that prevent certain documents from being made public. [ Read More… → ]

It is not possible to create a stipulation within a Last Will and Testament that prevents access to the distributed assets of an estate by your heir’s spouse. But there are other options. [ Read More… → ]

Within a Last Will and Testament, the difference between “per stipes” and “per capita” is how the estate’s distribution is handled should one of the named beneficiaries die. So knowledge of the definition of each is critical to create a Will that matches the testator’s intent. [ Read More… → ]

So long as you are willing to be bound by the laws of the United States and you follow the instructions provided within Standard Legal’s Last Will and Testament legal forms software package, you can certainly create a valid Will while living in a U.S. Territory. [ Read More… → ]