Sharing ownership of real property with someone else is an intentional decision. People buy property with friends, romantic partners and family members to reduce their housing costs or to generate income by repairing and reselling or possibly renting out the property...
The title records maintained by the state are what allow you to claim ownership of your home. You must execute a deed when you assume ownership, and the former owner will also need to sign a deed taking their name off of title. You must update the formal records to...
Maybe you are an individual who secured a judgment against someone who hurt you in a drunk driving crash and have slowly collected on those funds for multiple years. Perhaps you help run a business that provides financial services and therefore has to collect on...
It took a lot of time and effort to get your business where it is today, and you chose your business partners with an eye toward what they could bring to the table and how well you complement each other. Lately, however, you’ve started to sense that one of your...
It would be nice if everyone’s debts were fully settled when they died, but that rarely happens – and it’s not always easy to understand what steps you need to take to collect from an estate. In California, there are some strict deadlines that you need to follow and...
When most people pass away, they have some level of debt that is still outstanding. It could be something major like a mortgage or a business loan or car loan. It could also be a minor type of debt, such as a credit card payment. Additionally, the estate will probably...
If an estate plan has a no-contest clause, it can make it more difficult for disputes to begin. After all, the goal of that clause is simply to keep people from wanting to contest the terms of the estate plan. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that it’s...
To successfully challenge someone's will or estate plan, you need legal grounds to do so. Some people focus on outside influence that unduly impacted the estate plan, while others try to prove that a testator lacked the necessary cognitive capacity when signing the...
Divorces with significant property can easily become messy, as spouses may do things that are uncharacteristically cruel or unethical. For example, someone who has never taken an issue with supporting the family may come to resent the financial demands of their ex as...
When you are owed a debt but the person who owes the debt dies, you may think that you have no options available to help you collect. The truth is that once a person passes away, you can pursue a claim against the estate to get back compensation for the debts owed....