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The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams – Blog

The Law Offices of Brenton C. McWilliams

Welcome to our blog. Here, you will find articles on topics relating to estate planning, elder law and probate.

What information do I need to begin preparing my Estate Plan?

Nothing. Well, not nothing, but certainly less information than most people think they need to begin the process of preparing their will or trust.

For most people, estate planning is easy to procrastinate. A common weapon I see in the estate planning procrastination arsenal is the over-exaggeration of the information needed to prepare an estate plan. With the understanding that it’s easy to procrastinate, one of our goals is to make it easy to get your planning done.

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What is a Small Estate Affidavit?

Some states allow for the transfer of a deceased person’s assets on receipt of a statutory affidavit with certain information about the deceased and the heirs of the deceased. However, that’s not the case in Alabama. Instead of a small estate affidavit, Alabama allows for distribution of small estates through an abbreviated estate process known as summary distribution.

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How to Avoid Probate with Estate Planning

Author: Brenton McWilliams How to Avoid Probate with Estate Planning One of the major benefits to using a trust for estate planning is the ability to avoid the need for an estate in probate court. If the trust is created and funded properly, there is a continuity of authority over the trust property that lasts beyond the lifetime of the...

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