Texas Small Estate Affidavit: Skipping Probate Under $75,000
How the Texas small estate affidavit works: the $75,000 limit, the 30-day wait, who has to sign, how a judge approves it, and when it can transfer a homestead.
Estate Planning
Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and probate procedures.
Using a Transfer on Death Deed in New York
New York authorized transfer on death deeds under Real Property Law § 424, effective July 19, 2024. Here is how the deed works, what makes it valid, how to revoke it, and what it does not protect against.
Small Estate Affidavit in New York: Voluntary Administration
How New York’s small estate affidavit (voluntary administration) works: the $50,000 personal-property limit, who may serve as voluntary administrator, and how to file in Surrogate’s Court.
Summary Administration in Florida: The Small-Estate Probate Shortcut
How Florida summary administration works: the $75,000 threshold, the two-year rule, who files the petition, creditor risk, and how the court transfers assets without a full probate.
Texas Lady Bird Deeds: Retained Control and Probate Avoidance
A plain-language look at Texas lady bird (enhanced life estate) deeds: how they keep an owner in full control, pass property outside probate, interact with Medicaid estate recovery, and compare to the statutory transfer on death deed.
Texas Medical Power of Attorney: Form and Signing Rules
A plain-language guide to the Texas medical power of attorney: what it authorizes, who can act as your agent, how to sign it so it is valid, and how to revoke it.
How to Use a Transfer on Death Deed in Texas
A Texas transfer on death deed lets an owner name a beneficiary who inherits real property outside probate. Here are the statutory requirements, recording steps, revocation rules, and what happens at death.
New York Estate Tax: Exemption, Rates, and the Cliff
How New York’s estate tax works: the 2026 basic exclusion amount, who has to file, the 3.06%–16% rate schedule, and the exemption cliff that taxes the entire estate once it passes 105% of the exclusion.
Illinois Estate Tax: The $4 Million Cliff, Rates, and Exemptions
When Illinois requires a Form 700 estate tax return, how the $4 million exclusion cliff and 16% rate table work, and how the return is filed and paid.
Florida Lady Bird Deed: How Enhanced Life Estate Deeds Avoid Probate
A Florida lady bird deed, or enhanced life estate deed, lets an owner keep full control of real estate during life and pass it to named beneficiaries at death without probate. Here is how it works, what it costs to record, and how it interacts with homestead and Medicaid rules.
Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax: Rates and Who Pays
How Pennsylvania’s inheritance tax works: rates set by the heir’s relationship, what property is taxed and exempt, why there is no separate PA estate tax, and the nine-month filing and payment deadline.
New York Inheritance Tax vs Estate Tax: What You Actually Owe
New York has no inheritance tax but does levy an estate tax on estates above $7,350,000 in 2026. This explains the difference, the exclusion, and the cliff that can tax an entire estate.