Halloween is approaching quickly, and the spooky season is already in full swing. Whether you’re a haunted house person or someone who’s a little less adventurous, the Halloween season is a way for you to celebrate the season. The candy, pumpkins, and horror movies aside, Halloween isn’t the only scary thing out there. While “probate court” might sound about as scary as a Disney movie, there’s a lot more to those two words than meets the eye. Here are the top ten spookiest things about probate court:

10. The Time 

Probate court is where estates go to be divided up after the decedent’s (dead person’s) death. The estates are carved up like Jack O’ Lanterns to pay off debts and dissolve the disputes as quickly as possible. However, “quickly” doesn’t mean the same thing in the court system that it means to the rest of the world. The average probate process takes from several months to a year. That’s a long time to be tangled up in the courts.

9. Dragging Your Family Through All That 

Not to mention, you won’t be the one in court for several months to a year—your family will be. They’ll be stuck in the snowfall of documents and court dates, and it will be exhausting and boring and tiring. If it couldn’t be avoided, that would be one thing. But estate planning that is thorough would prevent you from dragging your family through the court system.

8. Your Prized Possessions—Gone 

You probably have favorite possessions. Maybe it’s a prized painting or a savings account that you’ve been letting sit for years. If your estate is left with no trust or will, probate will decide how your assets are divided up. That prized painting might be sold and the proceeds given to a creditor or used to pay off court fees (see #3).

7. Small Business Owners Beware 

Small business owners need estate planning just as much as individuals do. If there is no estate plan and the business is part of the estate, it might be taxed to death or become the subject of dispute after dispute. Even if the small business issue is settled, the legal furor surrounding your business won’t be good for it. Something you’ve worked so hard on deserves to be kept out of the probate courts.

6. Confusion 

The court system is also confusing. Lawyers spend three years figuring out the law and taking the bar exam to prove they are competent in it. And even lawyers acknowledge that the system is confusing. Probate court is no exception. 

5. Not A Good Legacy to Leave Behind 

Above all, probate court should not be what your family remembers about you. When you leave behind a legacy, you want it to be something your family will celebrate, not think of with any negative connotations. And probate court is nothing if not a negative-connotation-producer.

4. You’re One of Many 

Your home and assets are unique to you. You know everything about them, and every asset likely has some special attachment for you. However, probate court makes you one of many estates getting sorted out. There won’t be much regard for divvying up your possessions. Your estate deserves more than a disposition by someone who has never met you.

3. The Expense 

Court fees are expensive. The expenses will come from your estate, first and foremost. However, the hundreds of dollars of fees add up, unsurprisingly. Probate court’s expense is definitely one of the spookiest things about it. The fees take money from your estate that could have gone to your loved ones.

2. Executors You Might Not Have Picked 

The court appoints an executor for you. They’ll start with family, but they might appoint someone that you personally would not have picked. However, with no estate plan there to avoid it, your first choice for executor might get totally overlooked and your estate placed in the hands of someone you didn’t want.

1. Creditors

Debtors are the top spot on this special Halloween edition of the horrors of probate court. Your assets will pay off creditors. Without an estate plan to set aside trusts or other instruments, your prized possessions could go straight into the hands of your creditors, not your family.

Hopefully, these top ten scariest things about probate have convinced you to hire an estate attorney and make sure your family doesn’t get a close-up and personal look at the ghouls and goblins of probate court. Happy Halloween!

When people think of estate planning (do people who aren’t lawyers think about estate planning?), they generally only consider it in an individual sense. That’s an important area of estate law, but it is not the only area, by far. Estate planning for small businesses is vital to ensuring the long-term success of your business. You’ve worked hard for what you have, and you want it to last. 

Here are some issues affecting small businesses that make it vital for small businesses to engage with an estate planning attorney:

Taxes 

It’s nicknamed the death tax, but the IRS pretends that nickname doesn’t exist and instead calls it the estate tax. The death tax still exists, and it will affect your small business if the business is part of your estate and meets the financial threshold. The death tax is a tax on the decedent’s (dead person’s) right to transfer their property after death. 

That’s right, even your exit from this earth is taxed. Your small business could be affected by this tax, losing some of its value. However, there are exclusions you can claim or potential deferments of which your heirs can take advantage of. Estate planning will help minimize the tax burden that your small business faces when you pass on.

Trusts, Wills, and Avoiding Probate 

Speaking of transferring property, do you know what will happen to your company if you die? Estate planning for small business includes plans for what will come after the death of the owner. A healthy estate plan will allow your business to avoid probate or being picked apart by creditors. That way, your company’s financial future is far more secure.

Buy-Sell Agreements 

If you aren’t the only owner of your business, you should look into a buy-sell agreement, which will likely be necessary in this situation. Simply put, this type of agreement mandates that the shareholders, upon your death or some other condition, sell their stake at fair market value to others. 

Family-Run Business Issues 

Family-run companies might run into different legal issues than other small businesses, particularly when it comes to succession plans. Family businesses keep things in the family, but there also tends to be an informal structure and culture. There might be pressure to hire other family members, a lack of training, high turnover for non-familiar employees, and other issues that come from keeping a business in the family. 

This isn’t to say that family-run businesses aren’t awesome—they are. But, they do experience their fair share of potential pitfalls specific to such a personalized enterprise. Estate planning, especially for family businesses who have an informal structure, will provide a firm plan and minimize disputes that could otherwise be the downfall of your small business.

Insurance

Life insurance is great for a small business owner because, if the owner dies, the business might not provide enough money for the owner’s family to live on. Life insurance is a big-picture policy. Term life insurance will help you provide for your family after you pass on. 

Sole Proprietorship Concerns

Succession plans are especially important for a sole proprietorship. If you are a sole proprietor, estate planning will help you tell your heirs either how to run your business when you’re gone or what to do with it when you pass away (sell, transfer, etc.). Estate planning will help you lay out that information for your heirs and make the succession and transfer of the company as smooth as possible. 

Small business estate planning is no small matter. Whether you own a sole proprietorship or an LLC, there are a lot of ways that estate planning can provide for your business’s future. There is no reason a good business with a solid financial foundation should be brought down by an issue estate planning could fix. Contact an estate planning attorney today.

As with any demographic, there are issues specific to the elderly that other age groups don’t experience in as pressing a way. Elder law is a subset of the law that focuses on these issues that affect elderly people. The exact definition of elderly is up for debate, but know that you don’t have to be an octogenarian or above to deal with the subject matter of elder law. In this post, we will discuss the various legal issues that concern elderly people in particular. 

Healthcare 

Everyone experiences health issues at some point. Hopefully, these aren’t serious or severe, but they are something we all live with in one way or another. Seniors experience healthcare concerns in a more pressing way. As the sunset of someone’s life begins, long-term care and healthcare decision-making become things to think about. 

Long-Term Care 

Long-term care refers to nursing homes or assisted living. Nursing home and assisted living care is not cheap, and picking out a facility you will be comfortable in is no small decision. Legal issues concerning payment for long-term care and disputes about payment and care are subsets of elder law that focus on protecting would-be and current patients. 

Care for the Incapacitated 

There is always a chance that someone may become so sick or incapacitated that they cannot make decisions for themselves. In this situation, the issues of a living will or healthcare directive come into sharp focus. A healthcare directive is a way to delineate ahead of time your wishes for the nurses and doctors taking care of you. That way, if you are too sick to tell them what you want when you’re in their care, they have a document to refer to. 

Estate Planning 

Asset protection and determining where your assets will go after you pass on is a huge subset of elder law. Wills and trusts are legal instruments that allow you to transfer your assets to your loved ones (or to creditors). Through careful estate planning, you can avoid probate court. Your family will not have to go through that lengthy, unpleasant process, and you will know that your possessions are where you want them to be—not with the state.

Government/Private Benefits 

Seniors also receive a variety of government or private benefits, such as SSI, veterans’ benefits, disability, and/or pensions. Every senior’s financial package is different, and you want to make sure that you’re getting what is owed to you without delay. Elder law focuses on the disbursement and dispute-resolution of benefits. Again, this is designed to protect the senior beneficiaries.

Taxes 

Gift taxes and estate taxes tend to affect seniors more as they distribute their assets in wills or trusts. Whether you’re exempt from an estate or gift tax is sometimes unclear, and elder law dealing with tax issues will ensure that you do not run afoul of the IRS. Additionally, tax specialists working in elder law can help minimize the tax burden you or your donee will face. No one likes taxes, and if there is a legal way to reduce them, a tax attorney can figure that out for you.

Capacity 

Capacity is a tricky subject, and it often comes into play for seniors who are dealing with memory loss or similar issues. There may be disputes over a senior’s capacity to execute their will or make financial or healthcare decisions for themselves. Elder law protects seniors from inaccurate determinations of their incapacity. Conversely, elder law can protect incapacitated seniors from making decisions that will harm them later on.

Will Contests 

Will contests are technically an area of elder law, as the will in question is usually that of a senior who has passed on. Will contests are not overly-uncommon. An estate attorney will help the drafter of the will construct a document that will minimize the chance of a posthumous feud.

These are just some of the legal issues that affect seniors more directly than the rest of the population. This doesn’t mean that someone young shouldn’t take part in estate planning; it just means that elderly people should be aware that there is a whole subset of the law dedicated towards helping them.