Ask Standard Legal: Law Questions & Answers for FREE

Generally, there is no taxable event when property is transferred to a self-funded (revocable) Living Trust.

But a person creating a Trust should not take this response to mean that a specific situation is not the exception to this rule — especially if some “creative funding” is implemented. [ Read More… →]

Assuming that the Bankruptcy case has not yet been completed and discharged, a person may file a “motion to dismiss.”

There is no official form for this motion; rather, simply submit a statement to the District Bankruptcy Court indicating that you wish to dismiss your case, along with a brief statement as to the reasons behind the decision.

The judge must rule on the request, so filing the motion in no way “cancels” the bankruptcy case.

You can make such a request of the Bankruptcy Court. On the Statement of Intention, you can mark the “Other” box regarding the treatment of your home. Then indicate on the accompanying line that you plan to “retain the property and continue to make payments” or words to that effect.

A quitclaim deed is the appropriate instrument to transfer property, but since the owner of the property (your parents) are deceased, the owner cannot sign the deed transferring title — a requirement of a Quitclaim Deed.

You and your brothers and sisters most likely need to open a probate estate with the county court where the home is located, so that the appropriate probate court can authorize the transfer of the property as you desire.

This situation is a perfect illustration for the benefits of creating a Last Will and Testament, as the process to transfer the property to one sibling would typically be far quicker and easier if a Will were in place in advance…

Some probate courts require an Executor to post a bond to ensure that the Last Will & Testament is properly administered (i.e. the property detailed in the document is disposed of per the terms of the Will).

The language you cite eliminates that bond requirement, so that the person you appoint as Executor does not have to post any type of bond or financial instrument with the probate court.

Details on Standard Legal’s Last Will and Testament legal forms software here.

The State of New York is the only state in the Union that has not adopted strict “no-fault” divorce law.

In New York, there are six reasons or “grounds” for filing a divorce. But only one of these reasons allows the spouses to voluntarily agree to proceed with a no-fault divorce.

The six “grounds” for divorce in New York state are:    [ Read More… →]

“Ordering the book for subscriptions of stocks” deals with opening and closing the corporate books on the sale of shares to shareholders, typically at the time of incorporation.

This statement is a corporate formality so that ownership can be established. [ Read More… →]

No, you cannot restore the legal use of your maiden name through a Separation Agreement, which is merely a contract between two persons.

To change your name in a legal sense, you must petition the court. [ Read More… →]

The State of California has costly and complex registration requirements for each COUNTY in that state. The registration requires legal document preparation companies to become what the state of California calls “legal document assistants”. [ Read More… →]

Corporations are owned by shareholders. Shares of stock can have “par value” or “no par value” — that is, a predetermined value of one share as set by the issuer at the time of incorporation.

Most corporations and shareholders opt for shares with “no par value”, and they do so for a variety of reasons. [ Read More… →]

If your debts are significant enough that you are planning to file bankruptcy, it may be best to simply inform your creditors that you are filing a bankruptcy petition in the near future and that the calling creditor’s debt will be listed as a part of that filing.

Such a statement typically stops collection calls. [ Read More… →]

Standard Legal offers completed, “ready-for signature” forms through its legal document preparation services. These forms are created by asking specific questions of its customers through easy-to-follow questionnaires, then taking those highly specific responses and inserting the provided information into the required legal forms. [ Read More… →]

While a misspelled middle name would not automatically invalidate the document, Standard Legal strongly suggests that the document be corrected so that no issues might arise in the future.  [ Read More… →]

Student loans are NOT usually discharged in a bankruptcy case. However, in some circumstances, these debts can be discharged if the bankruptcy debtor can show that payment of the debt “will impose an undue hardship on you and your dependents.” [ Read More… →]

A lease is a contract between the landlord and the tenant, and typically requires little in the way of “legal interpretation”. Simply read the lease agreement carefully to ascertain your rights and the rights of the landlord for nearly any situation that might arise. [ Read More… →]

Certainly by the nature of the legal topics involved, much of the content is similar between the consumer version of Standard Legal’s self-help legal forms and the Professional Version of the software. But while the content is similar, the price is not.

This significant difference in price is for the granting of a license for the commercial use of our work product. [ Read More… →]

The “presumption does not arise” is a statement indicating that a debtor’s income is not such that he or she would be disqualified from filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy case.

In a Chapter 7 case, the debtor must prepare Form 22A, the “Means Test” form.  On that form, the debtor lists his or her gross income. If this annualized gross income is less than the amount of the annual “median income” assigned to individuals for the state in which the debtor lives, the ‘presumption of abuse’ does not arise and it is presumed that the debtor is eligible to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. [ Read More… →]

Sometimes, people begin a pro se (do it yourself) Bankruptcy filing with clear intentions. Sometimes, they initiate the process but do not follow it through to completion. Sometimes, those same people find themselves in the exact same financial situation just a few years later and are in even greater need to file for Bankruptcy.

Typically, Bankruptcy law requires an eight year time span before a person can refile for personal Bankruptcy again. But this time restriction is not always set in stone. [ Read More… →]

A “deed in lieu of foreclosure” is not a customized or language-specific legal document; it is the phrase given to the process of transferring title to a mortgage holder (by deed) in lieu of the mortgage holder going through with a foreclosure lawsuit.   [ Read More… →]

Generally, there is no requirement that Will or Living Will documents must be re-drawn when a person moves from one state to another, provided that the original document meets even the basic requirements of each state’s laws.

If there is any doubt regarding the validity of your documents, we suggest you create new ones, given that doing so is so very affordable using Standard Legal’s do-it-yourself legal forms software.