My Civil Advocate

People are often surprised to learn that even after they file for bankruptcy, they still may receive letters from creditors and bill collectors for a month or two afterwards. In a perfect world, the letters would stop as soon as you file for bankruptcy. After all, when you file, you are immediately under the protection of the court and an automatic stay prevents any and all collection activities by creditors and bill collectors, including sending letters. However, because many creditors and bill collecting companies are large, bureaucratic organizations, it can take a good amount of time - maybe even a couple of months - for a notification from the court to get to the right department  of a big creditor and get entered into the system properly so that letters are no longer generated. So, if it's just a month or two after filing and you still receive some letters, it's most likely nothing to be worried about. There are times, though, when aggressive bill collectors will si...

Probate is a legal process by which the court establishes the validity of a will; determines the value of the estate; resolves issues with payment of creditors, taxes, and other debts; and distributes assets to heirs. It also has some serious drawbacks. For one thing, probate is a public process; financial privacy goes out the window. Probate can also drag out for months, sometimes over a year, due to court hearings and other court-related matters. Last but not least, probate can be expensive. Attorney and executor fees can drain up to 5 percent of an estate's value in some circumstances. Throw in appraiser's fees and court costs, among other expenses, and heirs take a significant hit in the final estate distribution. There are a number of tools available to minimize (or eliminate) the toll probate takes on an estate. Properly designate beneficiaries or title assets so they transfer directly to beneficiaries (apart from a will) - e.g., life insurance policies, IRAs, annuiti...