When you die, estate planners say, one of the finest gifts you can leave your heirs is a plan for avoiding probate. Probate is a legal process that distributes a dead person’s assets and settles their ...

Did your father give you a nominal bequest but gave his favorite daughter the bulk of the estate? Were you bequeathed the family dog and $10,000, but your mother’s boyfriend of six months was to ...

Don't let common inheritance myths derail your family's future. Learn the truths about taxes, wills, and assets so you can ...

Probate Initiation: An interested party, often a family member or creditor, petitions the probate court to open an intestate estate. Appointment of Administrator: The court appoints an administrator ...

Q. I was told that unlike wills, a trust doesn’t require probate and is not taxable. My main asset is a house that I want to pass on to my son. Would a living trust help? — Planning A. We’re glad ...

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, ...

The typical probate process to settle a will or the estate of somebody who dies without one takes 20 months, according to a new survey on probate from Trust & Will, an online estate-planning service.