When preparing estate planning documents, working with an attorney who has a strong background in real estate and probate can help avoid probate or long-term title defects, and can simplify the ...

After many years of middling stock market returns, the get-rich-quick crowd has gravitated to real estate. Anecdotally, everybody knows somebody who’s made a killing by buying and selling properties.

Thomas Mercer Sr. and J.P. Goble of Your Family Matters Investment Advisors explain the importance of wills, trusts, and ...

Land and Other Real Estate Properties All types of real estate properties, including vacant land, rental properties, and commercial properties, must go through probate if solely owned by the deceased.

Q: I know that you don’t like using joint tenants in estate planning but I’m still not sure how joint tenants and transfer on ...

The estate, including the house, are also subject to U.S. and Connecticut probate taxes and probate court fees. The executor and their attorney must get releases of all these obligations, which ...

Whether you can set up a TOD deed for your real estate depends on what state the property is in (29 states and Washington D.C. allow it), what type of property you own and who you want to leave it ...

The probate court must accept your choice of executor, so physical proximity and administrative practicalities are taken into consideration. Therefore, an overseas choice, for example, may not be ...

Send questions to Real-Estate Matters, 361 Park Ave., Suite 200, Glencoe, IL 60022, or contact author Ilyce Glink and lawyer Samuel Tamkin at www.thinkglink.com.

Each state has its own limits for the size of an estate that can be transferred simply without going through probate. In some states, the limit is puny (a few thousand dollars); in others, it’s ...

What has been missing for so long is a means of transferring real estate in a simple, probate-free process. In about half the states, that hole has been plugged.