Publications

By Alexis Levitt Many people believe that having a valid will allows their estate to avoid probate. This is not the case. In fact, the probate process focuses on authenticating a decedent’s will (if there is one) and approving the named “personal representative” so that he or she can settle debts and distribute assets to

By Alexis Levitt Lately I’ve been seeing clients who have spread their accounts over many different banks. My sense is that people do this over time, chasing good interest rates, and not exactly meaning to have so many banks in the mix. Maxing out interest rates is, of course, an excellent goal and a fun

By Alexis Levitt If a loved one just died, there are many steps to attend to; one very important task is to determine if their estate exceeds $2 million, and if so, you need to proceed carefully.To figure out if an estate is over $2 million, you need to look at everything that the decedent

By Alexis Levitt This is an uncomfortable but frequent scenario: Someone dies, and there are simply not enough assets in the estate to pay all the creditors, never mind distribute anything to the heirs. There are clear laws covering this situation.  Bills of insufficient estates are paid in this order: 1. Costs and expenses of

By Alexis Levitt, Esq. This is a very common scenario: Someone dies, no one can get into their bank accounts, and yet there are bills to be paid. That includes home utilities, real estate taxes, medical bills, the probate attorney’s retainer, and more.Usually, there is someone in the family who will front the money. Later