Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia. Ebony Howard is a certified public accountant and a QuickBooks ProAdvisor tax expert. She ...

A thoughtful estate plan can help you avoid probate, but sometimes it's necessary. Here's how to navigate probate.

Learn about probate court's role in managing estates, settling debts, and distributing assets. Explore the probate process ...

Learn About Selling a House in Probate. Understand the probate process and real estate, navigate the legal challenges and ...

Very few people know how to manage and take care of an estate when someone passes. There seems to be an endless stream of paperwork to complete and it becomes even more complicated when you have to ...

This is the third installment of my seven-part series on major estate planning mistakes. The first two are here and here. Not avoiding probate. When an asset passes to others through a will, it has to ...

In financial law, an "estate" refers to all of the assets and property owned by someone who has died. However, this definition can have a few different applications depending on where in the estate ...

Can You Settle an Estate Without Probate? In certain situations, it is possible to settle an estate without going through probate. Assets held in joint ownership, assets with named beneficiaries (such ...

One of the most effective tools in the estate planning process is a trust, which can offer significant advantages-including the ability to bypass the often lengthy and costly probate process. Trusts, ...

Probate can be a lengthy and complex process, leaving executors eager to find ways to expedite it. Familiarizing yourself with the legal procedures and documentation required to settle an estate ...

Unless you're a lawyer, there's nothing good about the probate process. Probate is basically a drawn-out clerical process meant to confirm that the deceased's will is being honored. Unfortunately, a ...