The hardest step of estate planning is the initial preparation of your Will or your Trust. But, it is sometimes necessary that you may need to revise your estate planning documents. We all know life happens, beneficiaries or trustees pass away, someone unexpected comes into your life, or maybe you start to feel a little… Continue reading When Estate Planning Revisions Are Necessary
In estate planning, there are two types of avenues for when someone passes, probate transfers and non-probate transfers. Non-probate transfers have become increasingly popular because no one wants to actually go through the hassle of dealing with a probate. One way to ensure that property does not have to go through probate is to execute… Continue reading Transfer on Death Deeds: What you need to know.
Issues can pop up when you leave minors as beneficiaries. Read it about them here!
As our world moves further along in the Digital Age, we as a society have become increasingly dependent and intrigued with the digital world around us. As a result of this dependence we have created and accumulated vast amounts of "digital assets". These digital assets range from and include the digital files on a computer,… Continue reading Planning for your Digital Estate
Before 2008, there was no way in Oklahoma for real property or mineral rights to skip probate except for a revocable trust. In 2008, the Oklahoma legislature passed 58 O.S. Section 1251-1258. This statute codified Oklahoma's Transfer on Death Deed ("TODD"), otherwise known as a "beneficiary deed." This allows the owners of real property, including… Continue reading Oklahoma’s Transfer on Death Deeds
Oklahoma permits the distribution of a small estate without probate, if the estate is worth $50,000 or less in total. There are two ways to avoid probate using affidavits in Oklahoma - one for financial accounts, one for personal property. The first type of "Small Estate Affidavit" allowed in Oklahoma is one for financial accounts… Continue reading Oklahoma Small Estate Affidavit
When handling people's estate plans, I am often asked how life insurance, retirement accounts, and other “beneficiary” property should be handled with regards to the young children. More often than not, people with children want some or all of the proceeds of these accounts to go to their minor children. For example, if a client… Continue reading (Minor) Children in Your Estate Planning
Whenever an attorney creates a Revocable Living Trust for a client, the trust needs to be funded. "What does it mean to fund a trust?" is a common question that our attorney at the Skillern Law Firm gets from clients. It is a very important step in the estate planning process. To see what a Revocable… Continue reading Funding A Revocable Trust
If you do not have a Revocable Living Trust, your estate will need to be probated or be small enough for a simple affidavit. Probate is the legal process required for estate administration and asset distribution. To read more specifically about what probate is, read our previous post "what is probate." One important thing about… Continue reading Oklahoma’s Simplified Probate
Most, if not all, timeshare owners will have to decide, at some point in their life, who they want to receive their timeshares after they pass away. Most timeshares are real property interests, that are deeded into the owner(s)'s name(s). If a timeshare is held in an individual's name at death, just like any other piece of… Continue reading The Importance of Placing Your Timeshares Into A Trust
