A small estate affidavit is a sworn legal document that may allow an estate to avoid going through probate. Small estate affidavits are permitted in many states, as long as the value of the estate is ...

When the estate of a deceased loved one is required to go through probate, the process can be lengthy, costly and demanding in terms of energy and attention. In Missouri, as in other states, this ...

Many shrug their shoulders about estate planning. They feel they don’t have an estate because they aren’t wealthy. They also think probate, whatever that is, sounds too complex. An estate consists of ...

The affidavit cannot be filed until at least 30 days have passed from the decedent’s death.(fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto) (Part two in a three-part series regarding estate administration ...

It was time for Joe to start what was needed to handle his sister Carrie’s estate. She had died recently. He had her will and thought her estate was likely to qualify as a small estate under West ...

California allows a person with a claim to assets in the estate of someone who has died to collect them without going through formal probate by using an affidavit for collection of personal property, ...

Q: My father died with no will. His larger investment accounts were payable to my brother and myself. We have already split his personal possessions. He also had three bank accounts that were not set ...

Q: My sister passed away and named me as the beneficiary and executor in her will. She owned nothing. The only asset is a life insurance policy payable to her estate for $1,500. My lawyer told me not ...

In Arizona a party can collect assets in a small estate without having to open a probate through a form commonly known as a “small estate affidavit.” The purpose of Arizona’s small estate affidavit is ...

A small estate affidavit could help simplify the process of managing a loved one's assets after death. This legal document allows certain assets to transfer without going through probate, helping ...