In Washington State, a will can indeed be handwritten, but it is subject to certain requirements to be considered valid. Handwritten wills are known as "holographic wills," and while they can be legally recognized, they must meet specific criteria to ensure their...
With Revocable Living Trusts, it isn't enough to just create the trust. You also have to take action to "fund" your trust by ensuring the trust owns the assets you want it to control. When we create these trusts for our clients, we handle funding it for them at the...
When selling a home that is included in a probate, is that process any different? While the short answer is “no,” there’s a few things that need to be considered before you sell a home that is included in a probate. You need to understand what powers you have...
Here at DAL Law Firm, when we prepare your estate plan, we don’t just prepare your estate planning documents. We prepare an estate planning binder for you with a lot of helpful information for you and your loved ones. It includes not only your estate planning...
A last will and testament and revocable living trust both provide a set of instructions for how your assets will be distributed after you pass away. Both legal documents have similarities and differences that should be considered before deciding which document to use....
Having a power of attorney is very useful and an essential low-cost estate planning tool that people can use to manage their finances or health care. The power is granted through a carefully worded legal document so that the individual appointed as power of attorney...
Creating an estate plan can ensure you are able to provide a detailed arrangement of your affairs in the event that you become incapacitated. People often think they don’t need an estate plan, however, if you die without a will, a probate court decides what happens to...
Probate can be overwhelming to understand if you are not familiar with it already. It is a legal process where the court appoints a person to distribute assets from the deceased person to their beneficiaries. Furthermore, the personal representative or...
If you have decided to proceed with probate, there are some documents you will need depending on your situation. Documents need to be filled out properly and most forms include a PDF version for easy completion and a Word version for editing purposes. The...
Once all the decedent’s property has been liquidated, creditors have all been taken care of, and tax issues have been cleared, this would typically be the perfect time to close the probate. Probate can remain open depending on specific circumstances in each case. An...
