Settling Estates for Everyone

A Practical Guide and Action Plan to Handle Assets, Benefits, Taxes, Debts, Minors, and Much More

Ronald Farrington Sharp

• Publisher: Allworth
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781621537908
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Finance

Learn how to prepare your estate and settle the estates of loved ones. What needs to be done at the death of a loved one? There are four basic steps that must be followed. First is the arrangements for burial or cremation. Then the assets of the deceased have to be inventoried, followed by getting all debts paid and legal requirements met, followed by distributing the assets to the people who are supposed to get them according to the person's will, trust, or state law. The job can be daunting, expensive, and time-consuming; especially if the deceased had not made proper plans for their estate by setting up a will or trust beforehand. Settling a person's estate is something most people, other than lawyers, have never done. Help is right here in Settling Estates for Everyone. This bookis a guide for those responsible for wrapping up the personal and financial affairs of the deceased. It is a resource identifying the steps that may need to be taken prior to and after a person's death, and a practical guide to assist those who must deal with asset collection and disposition, tax and legal issues, applying for benefits such as Social Security, life insurance, Veterans benefits, debts, dealing with issues involving minor children and employment benefit plans. With this book as a guide, the process of administering and wrapping up a deceased's estate will be much simpler.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter One: If Death Is Imminent
• Chapter Two: Actions to Be Taken Immediately After Death
• Chapter Three: Who’s in Charge of the Estate and Who Does What?
• Chapter Four: Information Gathering
• Chapter Five: Identifying Estate Assets
• Chapter Six: How Is a Small Estate Settled?
• Chapter Seven: Debts Owed by the Deceased
• Chapter Eight: Paying Debts, Distributing Assets to Heirs
• Chapter Nine: The Probate Court Process
• Chapter Ten: The Trust Settlement Process
• Chapter Eleven: Veterans’ Benefits
• Chapter Twelve: Social Security Survivors’ Benefits
• Chapter Thirteen: Death Taxes
• Chapter Fourteen: Wrapping Up the Estate; Distribution of Assets to Heirs
• Chapter Fifteen: Attorneys
• Chapter Sixteen: What You Should Do to Make Your Own Estate Easy, Quick, and Inexpensive to Administer
• Form Letters and Sample Forms
• Appendices
• Index