How wills, probate, trust administration, state death taxes and incapacity documents work in the states covered.
Each state page covers the rule areas listed on it. A state without a page here is not yet covered.
Alaska law lets a will incorporate a writing that existed when the will was executed if the will indicates that intent and identifies the writing sufficiently.
Arizona estate planning rules cover wills, intestate succession, trusts, nonprobate transfers, creditor claims and court protection of incapacitated adults.
A direct contest alleges invalidity on specified grounds. California's guidance states estate taxes are due from the executor within nine months after death.
Wills must meet statutory signing and witnessing requirements. A will valid under the law where it was executed may pass property in Connecticut. Free guide.
A person holding a document purporting to be a will delivers it to the county Register of Wills within 10 days after learning of the testator's death.
The signature may be the testator's or that of a person acting at the testator's express direction and in the testator's presence. Thresholds and rates change.
Florida estate planning rules address written wills, testamentary competence, estate inventories, payment of estate obligations and ownership interests.
Georgia estate planning rules address wills, estate administration, trusts and guardianship, including an executor's duties and authority over estate property.
Hawaii gives a surviving spouse or reciprocal beneficiary the first $400,000 plus three-fourths of the balance when no descendant survives but a parent does.
An Illinois appellate court held that a grantor's Illinois residence was not a sufficient connection to tax a trust that was administered and held in Maryland.
Kansas estate planning rules cover wills, intestate succession, trust creation, powers of attorney, guardianship, conservatorship and transfers at death.
The state's intestacy rules pass undisposed property by operation of law to descendants, ascendants, collaterals and a spouse not judicially separated.
Maryland's Register of Wills handles estate-opening paperwork and records. Maryland's Orphans' Court can decide legal issues related to estate administration.
Massachusetts estate planning rules cover intestate succession, how wills are proved and limited, and how durable powers of attorney continue after incapacity.
Minnesota estate planning rules address wills, intestate succession, powers of attorney, guardianship, digital assets, real property transfers and estate tax.
Mississippi's power of attorney act text limits general gifting authority to the gifts specified in the section unless the document provides otherwise.
Missouri estate planning rules cover wills, intestacy, surviving spouse shares, probate, beneficiary deeds, trusts, powers of attorney and court appointments.
Montana says it has no estate tax for deaths after the federal credit ended, though an estate of an earlier decedent may still have a filing requirement.
Nebraska estate planning rules cover will execution, intestate succession, powers of attorney, guardianship, an inheritance tax and a small estate affidavit.
These sections explain how those rules apply to owners of businesses, real estate and private investments, along with their spouses and adult children.
New Hampshire estate planning includes will witnessing, intestate inheritance, estate administration, powers of attorney, revocable trusts and guardianship.
New Jersey estate planning rules address inheritance tax, intestacy, probate proceedings, powers of attorney and transactions involving trust property.
New York treats an irrevocable trust as a resident trust if it holds property of a person domiciled in New York when the property was transferred to the trust.
The rule addresses where the witnesses sign in relation to the testator and one another. The clerk of superior court is the judge of probate in North Carolina.
A will must be declared valid by informal probate or court adjudication to prove a property transfer or nominate an executor, with a statutory exception.
A successor trustee is treated as the beneficiary when a named transfer-on-death beneficiary is a trustee whom the owner replaced by the date of death.
Oregon estate planning rules address wills, intestacy, estate administration, trusts, protective proceedings and tax reporting for estates and trusts.
Pennsylvania estate planning rules address wills and transfers at death for property owners, spouses and adult children. Equal treatment is not the standard.
Rhode Island estate planning rules address will execution, inherited real estate, trust administration, powers of attorney, guardianship and estate taxation.
South Carolina also specifies rights concerning particular gifts and exempt personal property. South Carolina permits recording before or after incapacity.
An informal probate application must include a statement that the time limit has not expired because three years or less have passed since the decedent's death.
Tennessee's Uniform Trust Code applies to charitable and noncharitable express trusts and to certain trusts created by statute, judgment, or a decree.
Attestation of a Texas will involves two or more credible witnesses who are at least 14 years old. The attending physician signs the Texas order as well.
Vermont trust law also sets conflict of interest presumptions for trustees. Witnesses must attest and subscribe in the presence of the testator and each other.
Virginia estate planning rules address written wills, tangible personal property writings, powers of attorney, digital asset access and trustee administration.
Washington estate planning rules address wills, nonprobate assets, fiduciary authority, trust administration and estate tax. Thresholds and rates change.
A West Virginia agent under a durable power of attorney may create or fund a trust during the grantor's lifetime if the power expressly authorizes the action.
Wisconsin summary settlement is available for estates valued at $50,000 or less when a spouse, domestic partner or minor children survive the decedent.
Wyoming estate planning rules address inheritance, surviving spouses, trust administration, access to digital assets, guardianship and conservatorship.
