Retirement Fears: The Dreaded Words Probate, Death and Taxes

Retirement Fears is all about situations that keep you up at night, worrying, thinking, analyzing. Probate is one of those dreaded words that naturally conjures up thoughts of death and taxes. Strictly speaking, probate is the legal process of administering an estate once someone dies.

Probate can be a lengthy and expensive process.  The first step is for the probate court to determine if your will, if you have one, is valid.  If your will is found valid, the probate process results in the disbursement of your assets as you directed.   If your will is not found valid, or one does not exist, the court will order the assets to be distributed according to the rules of the state in which you were legally domiciled while alive.

CLICK HERE to read this month's Retirement Fears.

By Marvin Rotenberg and Jared Trexler
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