Our Blog - Surety Matters

If you have made a will or trust—good for you! But, if it is outdated, it may cause a lot of headaches down the road. Here’s a quick way to assess potential updates needed.  Time…
Read Moreabout An Annual Checkup You Really Can Do For Yourself

County courts in Texas require probate surety bonds when the court appoints someone to handle a deceased person’s estate or often when a will names someone as an estate executor. These bonds are required to…
Read Moreabout Texas Probate Surety Bonds

How your property is owned can have a very large impact on whether it has to pass through probate in order for it to be passed down to your estate beneficiaries. If a property is…
Read Moreabout A Property Title Can Impact Whether It Goes Through Probate

Going through probate can be a long process. But it’s not always necessary if you properly plan ahead. For example, not all bank and retirement accounts have to go through probate. If you name a…
Read Moreabout Naming Beneficiaries on Accounts Keeps Them out of Probate

Passing estates through the probate process can cost you and your estate a large amount in fees while causing your loved ones to have to wait until the resolution of the process to receive the…
Read Moreabout Joint Tenancy Can Keep Property Out of Probate

In Texas, when a person dies and leaves property that hasn’t been transferred to someone else through a trust, wasn’t owned via joint ownership with a right of survivorship, or isn’t subject to direct payments…
Read Moreabout Guide to Probate in Texas

Probate is a long and arduous process for an estate, so it becomes only natural to wonder if proper estate planning can help an estate fully avoid probate. It is possible, though you have to…
Read Moreabout Can You Avoid Probate?

For anyone who dies after January 1, 2018, their estates will not be subject to a New Jersey state estate tax. New Jersey residents, however, are still subject to the federal estate tax as well…
Read Moreabout The New Jersey Estate & Inheritance Taxes

For anyone who dies after January 1, 2019, their estates in New York that are worth more than $5,740,000 are taxed. This differs from federal estate tax, which exempts estates worth up to $11.4 million….
Read Moreabout The New York Estate Tax