…lodged with the probate court to govern the administration of “probate property” only. This is property you leave in your name with no other administrative process for transferring legal ownership to your beneficiaries. If you own property with a surviving joint tenant, or a designated death beneficiary, at your death legal ownership of this “nonprobate property” is automatically transferred to your surviving joint tenant or designated beneficiary, without the need…
…hire an estate attorney to represent the personal representative in the transaction, or 2) go it alone. Hiring an estate attorney will usually require providing the attorney with a retainer and all of the estate intake information necessary to the representation. Going it alone will mean filling out the probate court applications to obtain a personal representative appointment, finding a published form for the personal representative’s deed, and providing whatever…
…on death” law, paving the way for increased use of the beneficiary deed in Colorado. Beneficiary deeds can help avoid the need to probate smaller estates. Colorado’s probate code allows successors to an estate to collect the estate assets by affidavit, rather than a full probate procedure, if the estate consists only of personal property with a value not exceeding $50,000.00. No such procedure is available in Colorado to clear…
…the necessity of passing through a probate estate), most unmarried people, particularly those casual friends who jointly own property, will instead choose the “tenant in common” form of ownership (which passes the deceased’s undivided interest in the property to his or her probate estate). What happens upon the death of a tenant-in-common co-owner should be addressed, since it’s likely the estate would want to have the property sold. How…
Joint Tenancy With A Noncitizen Spouse: An Estate and Gift Tax Guide for the Perplexed This article was originally published in Probate & Property, the Magazine of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association, Vol. 16, No.1, January/February 2002, at page 41. The problem with federal estate and gift tax rules governing joint tenancies with a noncitizen spouse is that their complexity is way…
…an established revocable living trust, and in many cases, it will be appropriate to maintain that plan. Colorado residents who own real property in states with antiquated probate laws may prefer holding it in a trust to avoid ancillary probate of the property at their death. Colorado practitioners also will confront trust issues when assisting residents of other states in the acquisition or sale of Colorado real estate. Real estate…
…will, the probate court will have to appoint fiduciaries for you, using a statutory preference list established under Colorado probate law. This procedure will be an expense for your estate. If you wish to make your own choices and avoid consuming estate assets with unnecessary court procedures, start making a list today of all “possible” candidates for each fiduciary position. Then, prioritize and narrow down the list. Seek guidance from…
