Like we have discussed before on a previous post, every adult needs a Last Will & Testament or a Revocable Trust in place. However, more than half of all Americans have no planning in place! For simple estates, or at least the bare minimum for everyone, a Last Will & Testament is a good start. A Will… Continue reading Always have an attorney make your estate plan
As an estate planning attorney, most of my clients are meeting with me to help avoid probate as much as possible. I have written previous posts all about how to avoid probate. However, sometimes, probate can be beneficial in certain circumstances. A lot of estates go through probate, which is the court process to distribute… Continue reading Reasons to Choose Going to Probate
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
In 2003, the United States Department of Health and Human Services enacted regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or as it is more commonly known, “HIPAA”. Under this new law, medical providers can face serious sanctions and monetary fines for releasing unauthorized “Protected Health Information,” usually meaning medical records. As a result, medical… Continue reading HIPAA Authorizations – Why They Are Important
A creator or grantor of a normal revocable living trust usually serves as the trustee of a trust until their incapacity or death. After one of those events, a successor trustee takes over the trust to manage and administer the trust assets. Some trust creators have two children or have two people they trust enough… Continue reading The Problems of Successor Co-Trustees in a Trust
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
Know you need an estate plan, but don't know what you need or where to start? Call our offices today for a FREE CONSULTATION with our Attorney, Penni Skillern, Esq. Our attorney takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to estate planning. Your estate plan should complete your vision, goals, values, and needs for the… Continue reading Call for a Free Consultation!
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
Becoming a small business owner is a big decision. People, for the most part, begin working on operating agreements and articles of incorporation, and then move on to working on the business to make it successful and profitable. Few, if any, ever work on their exit strategy for their business from its inception. Most only start to… Continue reading Exit Strategies for Small Businesses
