What California families need to know: the probate threshold and small estate affidavit, the California Advance Health Care Directive, POLST, and the state's recognition of handwritten holographic wills.
9 min readWhat Florida families need to know: the Florida Probate Code, the homestead rules that constrain what you can leave to whom, the elective share, and why revocable trusts are so common here.
9 min readWhat Georgia families need to know: common form vs. solemn form probate, the year's support petition available to a surviving spouse and children, and Georgia's advance directive and power of attorney rules.
9 min readWhat Illinois families need to know: which county court handles probate, what makes a will valid here, the small estate affidavit, and how the Illinois Health Care Surrogate Act works when there is no directive.
9 min readHow to get a certified death certificate in Illinois: who can request one, county clerk vs. state vital records, typical copy counts, and processing times.
7 min readA Chicago-specific walkthrough: when the Cook County Medical Examiner takes the case, how to order certificates from the county clerk, and where probate is filed in Cook County.
8 min readSomeone has died in Illinois. What has to happen today, what can wait, and how Illinois handles death certificates, the will, and small estates in the first 14 days.
9 min readWhat New York families need to know: how the Surrogate's Court handles probate, the Health Care Proxy and MOLST forms, co-op apartments in estates, and the New York estate tax cliff.
9 min readWhat Ohio families need to know: Ohio's separately elected county Probate Courts, release from administration for smaller estates, and why Ohio splits the advance directive into two separate documents.
10 min readWhat Pennsylvania families need to know: how the Register of Wills and Orphans' Court divide probate work, the Pennsylvania inheritance tax, and the Health Care Decisions Act.
9 min readWhat Texas families need to know: the Muniment of Title shortcut through probate, how community property changes what passes to a spouse, and the Texas Directive to Physicians and Medical Power of Attorney.
9 min read