At some point in your life, you may have heard about someone's estate being tied up in probate. It may have included awful stories involving relatives fighting over money or property to the point where family bonds were forever broken. The reality is that probate isn't always a grueling and emotional process. In fact, a lot of the process boils down to paperwork, signatures, deadlines, and months, or sometimes years, of waiting. However, it's still a process that some people would prefer to avoid because of the costs involved and the time it takes. Here are four strategies that might help avoid probate.
Category Archives: Estate Planning
Lawrenceville Attorney Joel Beck Warns, Beware of DIY and Online Estate Planning Options
Lawrenceville (Gwinnett County) estate planning attorney Joel Beck warns of some problems that may arise from online or do it yourself estate plans and gives examples of possible costly mistakes that you should avoid.
Ten Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid – Episode 3: Picking the Wrong # of People for the Job
In part 3 of this series on estate planning mistakes to avoid, Joel Beck discusses the problem of picking the wrong number of people for the job of executor, trustee, and guardian.
Ten Estate Planning Mistakes To Avoid – Episode 2 – Not Hiring the Right People
In this video series, attorney Joel Beck discusses ten mistakes you want to avoid in your estate planning. In this episode 2, Joel discusses the mistake of not “hiring” the right people to serve in important roles such as executor, trustee, guardian, healthcare agent, and attorney in fact (agent under a power of attorney). But […]
Ten Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid: Episode 1
In the first video of this series, Joel Beck discusses the biggest mistake in estate planning - not having your own plan.
What if Cinderella’s Stepmother Wasn’t Evil, But Was a Poor Planner? A Tale of Stepchildren in Estate Planning
How does Cinderella relate to Georgia estate planning? The story helps teach a very important lesson: if you want your stepchildren to inherit from you, you must be very intentional with your estate plan. And if you don't have an estate plan, your stepchild will miss out.
What is a Georgia Power of Attorney, and what does it do?
A Georgia Power of Attorney (POA) is one of the three foundational estate planning documents that most adults in Georgia need in place (the other two are the Advance Directive for Healthcare and a Last Will and Testament). Essentially, a POA allows you to appoint an agent to act on your behalf and manage your […]
Can I disinherit a child in Georgia?
Can I disinherit my child in Georgia? Can I keep them from getting anything under my Will? Joel Beck of The Beck Law Firm, LLC discusses this issue in today's post.
Legal Planning for College Students
Recent high school grads, before heading off in the fall for further studies or work, should make sure that they have in place the appropriate legal documents to protect themselves in the event of a need. In today's post, we discuss how a new college student can get their legal ducks in a row easily.
Be Concerned: Odds are Your Parents Don’t Have a Solid Estate Plan
A recent study shows that only 18% of adults 55+ have in place a proper estate plan. So, that means the odds are good that your aging parents don't, and are rolling the dice. Read more in today's post about why that's problematic, and get some tips on how to talk to your parents about estate planning.