Welcome to the Rilus Law Blog!
One of our core values is empowerment and education is a key component of that. Because we are passionate about estate planning, we provide many free resources to empower our community. Explore the blog to gain a deeper understanding of estate planning, or feel free to reach out to us with questions. You could get all your questions answered in a free one-hour meeting with an experienced estate planning and probate attorney.
Explore all of our posts below, or search for a specific topic here.
What to Do When a Parent Dies in Arizona: Timeline for the First 2 Weeks
Losing a parent is one of life’s most difficult experiences. On top of the grief over the loss, the bereaved children must deal with shifting family dynamics, unfamiliar legal processes, and overwhelming estate administration duties.
Probate Horror Stories: Real-Life Lessons to Help You Avoid Common Estate Planning Mistakes
Probate horror stories—ranging from frozen assets to intense family feuds—are almost always the result of incomplete or outdated estate planning. By proactively addressing common mistakes like failing to fund a trust or neglecting beneficiary updates, you can ensure your legacy is protected and spare your family from the cost and stress of a prolonged, public probate process.
Funding a Trust: A Complete Guide to Transferring Assets (and Common Mistakes to Avoid)
A trust can be the most effective estate planning document you will ever make. However, it can also be the most commonly misunderstood. Contrary to popular belief, creating a trust does not automatically protect your assets. For a trust to work, ownership of the assets must be transferred to it in a process called funding the trust.
What Happens When Beneficiaries Disagree?
When a loved one dies, they leave behind more than properties or memories. There may be unfinished business, unanswered questions, or long-standing family tensions that were never fully resolved.
Protecting Your Assets: How to Avoid Probate
Estate planning is all about securing your assets and ensuring they go to the loved ones you intend, without unnecessary delays or expenses. One of the most critical steps in achieving this is avoiding probate.
Navigating Probate: What Families Need to Know
If you have ever been involved with settling a deceased person’s estate, then you’ve heard of the term probate. Often, going through probate is seen as an added burden to the bereaved family.
Questions to Ask a Probate Attorney
Probate is a complex and critical process that requires a probate attorney with sufficient knowledge and experience. Choosing the right attorney to handle your probate case is crucial for successful results.
Probate, Community Property, and Common Law Marriage: What You Need to Know
Navigating the legal landscape of probate can be complex, especially when questions about community property and common law marriage come into play.
When a Parent Dies Without a Will, What Do You Do?
While many of our blogs have a focus on what happens to minor children if their parents pass, that doesn’t address what happens to adults when their parents pass. A parent’s death is often your first experience with navigating the world of trusts, estate laws, and potentially probate.
What is a Probate Lawyer and Why Do You Need Them?
A probate lawyer can provide essential support if you are in the process of settling someone’s estate. An estate under probate can be a complicated, time-consuming, expensive, and, thus, stressful event for anyone.
How to Sell a Car of a Deceased Person
In my decades of practicing estate and probate law, one of the most commonly asked questions has something to do with the transfer of car ownership.
Do I Need a Probate Attorney?
Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy, and it can be even more complicated when it comes to handling their estate. When a person passes away, their assets and debts must be properly distributed and settled.
Who Gets Assets Without a Will in Arizona?
Your last will and testament is the legal document explaining the distribution of your personal property after your passing. Essentially, it allows you to allocate your assets according to your wishes.
Arizona Probate: An Overview
When a person dies, their estate often needs to go through the probate process. Probate can be defined as an organized process of determining the property of a deceased person, repaying their debts, and dividing their assets among the heirs.
What are the Probate Laws in Arizona?
Probate is the process of settling a deceased person’s estate and accounts. Probate laws vary state by state, so it’s essential to work with a local probate attorney on your case.
Everything You Need to Know About Probate Law
In the world of estate planning, ‘probate law’ is a term that is tossed around often. If you type “what is probate” into a search engine, you’ll likely be met with a slew of articles advising you on how to avoid it.
What To Do After Widowed
The death of a loved one is a traumatic experience, and losing your spouse or partner is even more so. Then, as you’re experiencing the range of emotions and grief that comes with that, you have to deal with the stressful and often overwhelming process of navigating probate or settling their estate.
What Happens When You Die Without a Will?
When it comes to estate planning, there is one question that is heard more often than any other. What happens when you die without a Will?
Is Probate Necessary When There is a Will?
When dealing with the loss of a loved one, the grief can feel impossible to bear. This grief is made even more challenging when you add the pain of being held responsible for the distribution of your loved one’s assets.
What is the Purpose of a Probate?
No matter your age or circumstances, probate is an important process to understand. It determines how your estate is transferred after your passing and can be an arduous process for your beneficiaries, lasting up to 18 months or even longer if the proceedings are contested.
Still Have Questions or Not Sure Where to Begin?
Contact us today to schedule your free one-hour meeting with an attorney to assess your estate planning needs.