Mary Randolph earned her law degree from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of The Executor's Guide: Settling a Loved One's Estate or Trust, 8 Ways to Avoid Probate, and other books about law for nonlawyers. She has been a guest on The Today Show and has been interviewed by many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.
Articles By Mary Randolph
After one spouse's death, an AB trust needs to turn into an A trust and a B trust--and making that happen is the trustee's job.
Even a husband or wife who wasn't named as the beneficiary of a retirement account may have the legal right to claim the money.
Tax-advantaged retirement accounts are subject to different rules than are other inherited assets. Here are the basics.
Spouses get more options than other beneficiaries, and may be able to put off taxes on retirement account funds for longer.
Married couples can get a big tax break if they own enough to be concerned about federal estate tax.
An overview of all the tax returns the executor might need to file on behalf of the deceased person or the estate.
Will you owe capital gains tax when you sell assets you've inherited? It depends.
Bypass trusts are used by wealthy couples to avoid paying the federal estate tax.
Here's a roadmap of the common steps involved in the probate process.
Executors might be pleasantly surprised to find that they won't need to conduct a whole probate court proceeding.