Time to Review Your Estate Plan

An estate plan represents a snapshot of someone’s current life. Though we draft our estate documents to be amenable to life changes, one should still review his estate plan every year or so to see if the documents reflect his or her wishes.

At our firm, the wills we draft are general, and more often than not cover one’s entire estate in lieu of referencing specific assets. Although the estate plan may be generalized, many life events warrant changes to one’s documents. Moving between states, marriage, divorce, estrangement, and death of loved ones all represent appropriate reasons to update an estate plan.

Informal vs. Formal Probate of a Will

When a person dies and leaves a Will, a legal proceeding called “Probate” is required to transfer ownership from the person who died (Decedent) to the people named in the Will (Devisees).  There are two main proceedings for Probate of a will.  Below are a few differences.

Informal vs. Formal Probate of a Will

1. FORMAL Probate is litigation; Informal Probate is an administrative proceeding.  If there is any dispute or contest regarding the will or the appointment of a personal representative in Informal Probate, then the case becomes Formal Probate.

Dyslexia: A Learning Ability – Helping Protect Your Child’s Rights

Doctors Sally Shaywitz and Bennett Shaywitz, Co-Directors at The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, are the leading experts on the study, consequences, and benefits, of dyslexia. The Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, and many other individuals, and organizations, are attempting to learn more, and educate the public and academic institutions, about dyslexia.

ANTHEM DAYS 2013

Anthem Days, Anthem’s yearly community festival, is held on March 9-10th this year. The Carroll Law Firm will have a booth set up at the business expo, so please stop by and say hello. We hope to see you there!

Do I Need an Estate Plan?

Some people hear the term, “estate planning,” and believe it does not apply to them because they only have modest assets, if any. In the legal sense, however, an estate planning consultation will include planning for not only the distribution of assets, but also the healthcare, mental healthcare, and the future well being of the person. Estate Planning refers much more than a person’s financial portfolio. In fact, whether your finances and possessions are modest or you have hundreds of thousands of dollars, you have an Estate and need to plan for its management.