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What should you know about probate sales in South Carolina?
Probate sales occur in order to liquidate a deceased homeowner's assets. These sales happen during the probate process, and the probate courts oversee the sale. In some cases, proper estate planning can eliminate the need for an estate sale after your death. Reasons...
Avoid estate tax with a dynasty trust
Dynasty trusts provide grantors in South Carolina a way to avoid the various transfer taxes that your estate may otherwise incur. But for it to work, you have to make sure you set everything up correctly on the first try. What are dynasty trusts good for? The big...
Keep your property in the family with a life estate
Legal joint property ownership commonly comes in the form of a life estate. Life estates themselves come in many different kinds, and you may want to find out which one is right for your estate if you want to ensure that the family property in South Carolina stays in...
What if a beneficiary dies before probate is done?
Probate in South Carolina can be an involved, complicated process. It is made all the more complex when one of the beneficiaries dies during the pendency of the probate action. This circumstance is more common than you might think, as probate can take months or even...
Three reasons why it’s best to avoid the probate process
After someone passes away, there are often many tasks to accomplish involving this person's estate. South Carolina has probate courts to verify residents' wills and manage any of their remaining liabilities. There's nothing inherently wrong with the probate process,...
Wills and trusts serve different purposes
One of the first questions some South Carolina residents may have about estate planning is what is the difference between a will and a trust? They are not interchangeable documents, but they are often used in conjunction with each other. A will is public and essential...
Which assets are easy to forget to include in a will?
In South Carolina, one of the most important aspects of estate planning is making sure that your will includes all your assets. Unfortunately, many people forget to include valuable assets in their will, which can lead to problems with succession, including family...
Does a will always have to be probated?
Losing a loved one is difficult, and the last thing families want to deal with at a time like this is a complicated legal process to settle an estate. In South Carolina, most estates must pass through probate court in order to be settled. However, there are a few...
Certificates of deposit and inheritance
In estate planning for South Carolina families, it is usually a good idea to keep assets out of the probate process. Probate is a slow and sometimes expensive court procedure for distributing assets from a person's estate to their heirs, and shielding assets from...
Using an AB trust to save on taxes
There are plenty of methods that you can adopt to save on taxes. One of the best will be an AB trust. This type of trust is perfect for the needs of South Carolina married couples. You can use it to maximize your federal real estate exemptions. This will let you pass...