Life is a constantly evolving journey. Laws change. People change. Relationships change. Finances change. Children come along, attend college, become adults, have their own children, and grow into their golden years. Unfortunately, the language in a Will stays the same and may fail to accomplish your goals if not updated to parallel the evolutions of your life.
When planning your estate, it is important to understand the difference between probate and non-probate assets. Why is this distinction so important? To make sure your intentions are carried out. Your will does not control the distribution of non-probate property. Moreover, non-probate property may have some advantages, such as avoiding ancillary probate for out of state real property, or avoiding delays in transferring property at your death.
Your mother told you that she named you in her Will as Executor of her estate. She trusts your judgment on financial and family matters. Now your mother has died and you ask, "Why me? I have never been an Executor before." Where do you begin? As Connecticut estate planning and probate lawyers, we prepared a handy list of what to do in the first week after someone dies.
When someone you love passes away, how do you deal with their death on Facebook? An excellent article in Readers Digest suggests the following ways:
If you leave a deceased person's Facebook profile alone, it will continue to pop up as Someone You May Know and in other suggestion boxes. Memorializing the page removes old status updates and allows only friends to see the profile or locate it through a search. To memorialize a page, type "special request for deceased person's account" into the Facebook search bar and follow the directions.
