Probate is the legal process for distributing your property after you die. Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain ...

When someone dies without a will and leaves behind debt, the decision to administer the estate can carry real financial risk.

Are you dithering about preparing your will? If you die without one, the state will make all of the calls on where your ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Bob Carlson researches all facets of retirement finances. About 70% of U.S. adults don’t have a will or trust, according to ...

Probate refers to the legal process of settling the estate of a deceased person. This process can take anywhere from a few months to a couple of years, depending on several factors such as the size ...

My mom died just over a year ago, and I’m still knee-deep in probate. I’m barely average. The typical probate process to settle a will or the estate of somebody who dies without one takes 20 months, ...

One of the most effective tools in the estate planning process is a trust, which can offer significant advantages-including the ability to bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process. Trusts, ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

In effect, probate functioned as a pre-emptive filter, forcing scrutiny at the planning stage, before property or assets were ...

Probate is the legal process of formally recognizing a will after a person dies, naming or validating an executor to administer the estate, and distributing assets to intended beneficiaries. It also ...