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The time of year is coming up for holiday travel and family gatherings. Holiday travel frequently causes clients to make a desperate last minute call to my office to make estate plans. If the call comes very close to the holiday travel date, it may not be possible to get the documents drafted in time. Attorneys like to take time off to enjoy the holidays too.

The holidays are a perfect time, while family and friends are gathered together (safely distanced, of course), to discuss whether estate planning and related legal matters are in order. It is a difficult subject to approach, but it is much better to be brave and tackle the subject than to avoid the discussion and regret later that plans which should have been made were not and you're left with a mess to deal with.

Setting up a living trust is the best way to ensure your assets are passed onto the right people if you pass away. So how do you start the process?

In this series of blogs, I am outlining various types of probates or probate alternatives to settle an estate and their likely costs. As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, the cost is predominantly determined by the type of procedure followed.

In this series of blogs, I have outlined various different types of probates and probate alternatives to help you settle an estate and understand the potential costs. As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, the cost is predominantly determined by the type of procedure followed.

There is good news. If you and your spouse can agree on the parameters, it’s not too late to outline how your property will be classified, as community or separate, how your joint finances will be handled, and support for children from prior marriages —even if you’re already married.

An important component of an estate plan is a statutory durable power of attorney, otherwise called a general power of attorney. This power of attorney allows you to name an agent or agents to carry on business type activities on your behalf if for any reason you are not able to do so yourself.

An independent administration is the form of probate available when a will contains the proper legal provisions authorizing the independent administration of the estate. This means you can avoid extensive court supervision of the handling of the estate once the will has been admitted to probate.

One of the first questions the family of a loved one that has passed will ask is, What will it cost to settle the estate?

If an attorney handles incorporation for you, he or she should take all of the steps necessary to set you up to go forward conducting business according to sound legal requirements to preserve the protection that is a primary goal of incorporation. This would include filing a certificate of formation with the secretary of state, drawing up initial bylaws or operating agreement (for a LLC), drawing up minutes of the organizational meeting, issuing stock or membership interests (for a LLC), and providing forms for minutes on an ongoing basis.