Why do you have to wait six months after somebody passes away to distribute? The biggest reason is, well, there’s two big reasons. First, if you think you know, even if you do really think you know who their creditors were. Who they owed money to, the bills, medical expenses, credit cards, whatever. You…
On what grounds can somebody actually challenge a probate or a will? We’re doing a lot of internal training with my team right now, and I actually created a whole new system for us to be able to easily sort of pick from a list. What are all the different reasons we can challenge…
I know you’re wondering, how long does an executor actually have to wrap up a whole probate? What are the time limits around this? In Arizona probate can take basically as long as it needs. An executor doesn’t really have a timeline. There’s a recommended start date, which is 60 days after somebody passes…
What are the probate rules in Arizona? There’s hundreds of them. So there’s two big sections of law that govern probate. The first one is our statutes, and that’s in Title 14. The second one is our probate rules, Arizona Rules of Probate Procedure. The rules are much more like how you file that…
Probate has tons of weird rules. In Arizona, Rule 51 is one of the ones that catches people by surprise. Arizona Rule of Probate procedure Rule 51 says, you have two years to get this project done, or the court’s gonna kick you out. It’s the administrative closure rule. How does that apply? Most…
Probate’s a mess. What questions actually get asked in probate? It boils down to three things: Is there a valid will and is there a competing valid will? What are the assets and expenses, debts? Who are the heirs? That’s what probate asks. It really boils down to those three things. If you need…
What are the four most common goals? The four most common objectives when you’re doing your estate planning? We talk with thousands of people, like every year, hundreds of people come through. We’ve been doing this for years now and literally, there were thousands of families that we were able to talk with. I…
What are the two most important parts of estate planning? This is the thing that gets right down to the heart of the issue. Most important part is, honestly, the weight that you will feel lifted off your shoulders when this is finally done. Most of us have gone through something in life where…
You should always decide what you want to happen to your estate after you’re no longer around—that’s why you need a last will. While most people have considered writing their wills, they may often run into trouble in court or among their executors, as well as their heirs. How should you put it together…
Estate planning is the process of making arrangements for your assets to ensure they will go to your beneficiaries. It is also done to carry out your wishes upon death. These assets include your jewelry, vehicle, real properties, insurance and investments, bank accounts, and other valuable things you own. Since estate planning can be…