Retirement accounts, life insurance and similar items have become an important part of many people’s estate plans. In some cases, they are the only estate plan that people have. If you are relying on them, it is important to know a few things about designating beneficiaries.

Estate planning attorneys always tell their clients that the most important thing to do to ensure a smooth estate administration is to talk to family members about what they need to do. However, there is an alternative if you are uncomfortable with that advice.

By now most people are aware of the necessity to exercise diligence to prevent identity theft. People know to check their credit statements and how to look out for irregularities. However, when you pass away, you can no longer do that. Identity thieves are now exploiting this to steal the identities of the recently deceased.

In an estate sale personal property in an estate is sold off at auction. These sales are becoming increasingly popular in the United States. There are a couple of groups of people who can take advantage of this trend.

Siblings can often be our best friends and closest means of support when times are tough. However, nothing can bring down an estate plan faster than a sibling rivalry over that estate.

Many state Supreme Courts have pro se forms for people to use when filing different types of legal actions. A Senate proposal in Texas is proposing that the state’s Supreme Court be required to create forms for estate planning and probate.

Blended families are continuously becoming more common in the United States. This creates special considerations that must be taken into account during estate planning because not planning properly for blended families is a good way to ensure that there will be family feuds over an estate.