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After your death, family members will typically need to go through a process called probate to settle your estate. Going through probate is the last thing anyone wants to deal with when they're grieving, but you can make this process a bit easier for loved ones by having a will. What is probate ...

It's one of the more difficult calls we receive, but somewhat frequently, the caller on the other end tells us something like this: “I've been diagnosed with X, and the doctor said I should get my affairs in order. Can you help with that?” What does it mean to get my affairs in order? When a do...

What Is a Power of Attorney and How Do I Create One in Georgia? If you become incapacitated due to an accident or progressive disease, do you have a plan to manage your affairs? Designating an agent with a power of attorney (POA) grants one person the power and responsibility to manage your fi...

What is a Will and How Do I Create One in Georgia? Every adult in Georgia should have a will, and they should be sure that it is enforceable under Georgia law. It is also important to know what a will does, what it doesn't do, and how to create a will that can stand up to scrutiny in probate c...

How Do I Put My House Into a Trust in Georgia? If you want to leave real estate to your beneficiaries when you pass away, especially your home, you're probably wondering, “How do I put my house into a trust?” It's nearly as simple as setting up a living trust and completing a deed transfer whe...

What Happens to Debt When You Die in Georgia? The overwhelming majority of people who die in Georgia leave some debt behind. Our society is built on credit. So, many people are uncertain about what happens to their debt when they die. Does it get wiped out? Or is the family expected to pay it...

Understanding Advance Directives: Creating a Living Will in Georgia Chances are, somewhere along the line, you have heard that you should have a living will. But the same people who tell you that you need one are not always quite certain about why you need it or what the document even does. E...

Should You Store Estate Planning Documents in a Safe Deposit Box After you put the effort into creating a good estate plan, you will have important documents that need to be protected. Sometimes, when people think, “protection,” they immediately think, “safe deposit box.” With the locks, secur...

What is Estate Planning and Why is it Important? The term “estate planning” covers a lot more than most people think. An estate plan can establish protective options for your property during your lifetime, help ensure debts are covered, and enable your loved ones to have the resources they nee...

In some states, probate laws provide for a very simplified and streamlined probate process for what are considered to be small estates. This can help reduce the time and costs of going through a full probate proceeding when there are limited assets.  People with experience with those simplified probate processes often ask if Georgia has a similar, simplified process. In this blog we answer this question and explain how some parts of Georgia's probate process works.

One of the biggest assets most business owners have to support themselves and their loved ones is their business. We know they work hard to keep their business running and want to ensure they are doing everything they can to protect it. However, one thing we have seen is that most owners don’t think about planning for the continuity and succession of their business. In other words, we see a lack of plans in place for how the business will operate, and who will operate it, if something were to happen to the owner, such as incapacitation or death. In this blog we will talk about why this is important and what business owners can do start their plan.

How Trusts Avoid Probate and Protect Privacy Probate and the formal estate administration process can take considerable time and legal knowledge to manage properly. For that reason, many people now ask their estate planning attorneys to set up a revocable “living” trust to avoid probate. As an...

Trusts to Protect Blended Families When members of a couple have children from prior relationships, family matters can get complex on many levels. One aspect that is often overlooked is estate planning. Without the right planning, children can be unintentionally cut off or disconnected from fam...

One of the most frequently asked questions that we get from clients is about passing down their real estate to their loved ones, especially if it is owned by multiple people. Essentially, they want to know if they are able to pass down their real estate to the people they want and how the ownership of that real estate affects their ability to do so. In this blog, we break down the differences between the two and how they affect the probate process.

With 2023 just starting, there are many things to look out for with regards to estate planning. In particular, it’s important to keep up with the amount being exempt for estate and gift taxes, as it could possibly affect how much your family will actually keep from their inheritance if you own over a certain amount.

If you are settling a loved one’s estate for the first time, you are most likely new to the concept of probate and might hear the terms “contested” and “uncontested” probate and want to know what these terms mean. This blog will go over these terms and what makes the process different in either case.

I’m sure you heard the  global news that Queen Elizabeth III died September 8th, 2022, at the age of 96. She was the longest-reigning monarch, having served for over 70 years, and it’s no secret that the Queen, along with the rest of the royal family and the UK government, had planned for her death for quite some time. There's a few things we could all learn from this royal experience.

When preparing your estate plan or going through the probate process, you may hear the term “heir” or “beneficiary” with regard to inheritance. In TV shows and movies, they like to depict the heirs of the decedent inheriting from them automatically upon their death. In reality, however, this is not always the case.

Whether you are preparing your own estate plan or probating a loved one's estate, you might notice a great deal of legal jargon that may or may not be hard to understand. It's easy for us to explain what certain terms mean for our clients when we sit down and talk about their estate plan, a...

You may have seen a movie or TV show once or twice that has portrayed court cases, interrogations, and my personal favorite, will readings! It usually goes like this: The family is gathered around the deceased patriarch's mansion library or attorney's office; the walls are paneled with dark wood, and everyone is dressed extravagantly (except for that one eccentric son wearing jeans and a t-shirt and trying to put his feet up on the table). You’ll then see a lawyer dressed in a 3-piece suit walk in with his brief case, sit behind the large wooden desk, pull out a file, and say, with some authority, "We will now read the will," which will later be followed up with the family fighting or being completely shocked that grandpa left his fortune to the nurse that was taking care of him.

For some, the probate process can be a daunting responsibility that must be undertaken after their loved one has died. Most people are unfamiliar with the process and may be unsure even where to begin. One of the most surprising things people learn while probating an estate is that not all assets are distributed through the probate process, but rather are distributed to persons outside of probate. These assets are referred to as “non-probate assets” while the assets that do go through probate are called “probate assets.”

Whether you are going through probate or doing your own estate planning, you might hear the terms, “testate” and “intestate” estate mentioned at some point in either process. To put it simply, “intestate” is a term used when someone dies without a will. Their estate will then be referred to as an “intestate” estate and the state will decide who will serve as the administrator of the estate and how assets shall be distributed after the decedent’s expenses are paid. On the other hand, if a person were to die testate, it means they died with a will.  In a testate estate, the will would set forth who should serve to administer the estate and have a plan as to how the assets should be distributed after all valid debts and bills have been paid.

If you or someone you know is going through probate to settle the estate of a loved one, you will likely be exposed to some terms that you may have never seen before or don't understand. Probate can be a confusing process, but understanding what some of these terms mean may make the process easie...

            It's no secret that people dream about their summer vacation when they are slammed at work or have a long list of to-dos for the week. In fact, some people might even start planning for their vacations in the winter. However, something people don't normally plan for, or even think abo...