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oklahoma city probate lawyer

Five Steps to Avoid Probate Litigation

There are some estate planning strategies that you can utilize now that will make things much easier on your loved ones in case you pass away or end up incapacitated. You do this to eliminate many of the possible complications that your loved ones could face after you pass away. One  significant hardship for your heirs that you likely want to avoid is for your estate to get tied up in a lengthy, costly, and stressful probate process. The following are some steps you can take now to eliminate the chances your estate will end up in costly probate litigation after your passing.  Adequately Update Your Estate Plan Having a current estate plan is one of the best ways to make sure that you are adequately prepared for the various changes that lie ahead. This means making sure that you always sufficiently express your intent to anyone impacted by your estate plan.  Have Honest Conversations Whether you notice the early signs of dementia in a loved one or have unique estate plan goals, it is almost always a good idea to have open and direct conversations with your loved ones in case you end up incapacitated or pass away. You [...]

2021-01-15T16:03:31+00:00Tags: , |

Advice on Protecting Foreign Assets in Estate Planning

Today, more so than ever before, we are living in a connected world, with people from Oklahoma working and visiting other states and even other countries. Each year, a large number of people vacation in other countries and some individuals even end up acquiring assets in these foreign countries. Unfortunately, estate planning is much more complex when a person owns assets that are located in another country. For this reason, it is important to understand some of the finer points of estate planning when foreign property is involved. Fully Disclose All of Your Assets It is important to make certain that you disclose all of your assets to your lawyer when creating your estate plan. Some people fail to include information about assets that they own in other countries because they do not think that it influences how their estate will be treated. In reality, an estate planning lawyer must understand all of your assets and where they are located to help to determine the tax repercussions for you and your heirs. The Possibility of Multiple Wills Based on exactly where foreign assets are located, a person might decide to have one or two wills to deal with the transfer [...]

2019-03-28T16:36:42+00:00Tags: , , |

Oklahoma Supreme Court Decides Portability Election Case

A “portability election” refers to the ability of a surviving spouse to claim the unused portion of the federal estate tax exemption for a deceased spouse and add this amount to the balance of the surviving spouse’s own exemption. In January of 2017, the Oklahoma Supreme Court decided a case concerning a unique aspect about the amounts in portability elections. In the case of In re Estate of Vose, the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s holding that required an estate administrator to make a portability election. While this case has the potential to provide some guidance on portability elections, individuals who are engaged in the probate process should not hesitate to contact a knowledgeable estate administration attorney. The Facts of the Vose Case In the case of Vose, a woman and her second husband signed prenuptial agreements prior to marriage. While these prenuptial agreements covered many terms, the agreements did not discuss portability elections. After the woman’s death, the woman’s child was appointed administrator of the woman’s estate. Although the child did not agree with it, an Oklahoma court ordered the portability election for the deceased woman be given to her section husband. The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s Decision [...]

2017-06-20T20:44:58+00:00Tags: , , , , , |

Will You Need to Hire an Oklahoma City Probate Attorney?

Acting as the executor of a loved one's estate can be a daunting task-both emotionally and logistically. For starters, if a loved one had a large estate that needed to be distributed, it would be your job to go through every single item of the deceased's estate to ensure that it was accounted for-a time consuming and meticulous task. Emotionally speaking, acting as the executor of an estate can put you in an awkward position with your family members. Even though you would only be acting on behalf of the deceased, all of the beneficiaries (and even non-beneficiaries) would view you as the bad guy should they not like what they did and did not receive. Because of this, many Oklahoma residents often find it beneficial to hire an Oklahoma City probate attorney to assist them with the probate process, or even to take over entirely. Reasons to Hire a Probate Attorney At Jim A. Lyon Law Firm, our probate attorney has dealt with the execution of many estates, and is equipped to help you should you find that you need assistance in executing your loved one's estate. When a client turns to us, it is typically for one of the following reasons: There is discord [...]

2017-06-20T20:53:21+00:00Tags: , , , |