Legal Articles

Refusal of Letters — When Probate is Not Required

A Probate Court is not obligated to grant a petition for Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration (see my post on Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration for the distinction). Pursuant to 473.090 RSMo the Probate Court may refuse the grant of letters on a number of grounds. The insufficient estate value basis is one…

Wills, Trusts: Omitted Spouse, Child(ren)

Missouri probate law is old-fashioned in many ways. A great example of this is the omitted child(ren) and omitted spouse rule codified in RSMo, 474.235-240. The ideological underpinning of the laws are that families are inherently close and tight-knit. It would be inconceivable, then, that a family member — particularly a parent — would disinherit…

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts ("ILIT")

Previously, I posed about Life Insurance Trusts (“ILITs”) and how they are often used in conjunction with Revocable Living Trusts. In that same post, I briefly mentioned ILITs without delving into detail. Let’s do that now. Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 2038, property of a revocable trust will be included in the Settlor’s estate,…

Debts at Probate

In a probate proceeding in Missouri, one of the chief responsibilities of a personal representative is to handle the debts of the decedent. Generally, in order of priority, the expenses of the decedent’s last illness and funeral, any other debts to creditors, and tax elections (estate taxes, generation-skipping tax, and all other transfer taxes —…

Pour-over Will

What’s a “pour-over” Will? It’s a question I’m asked every so often when explaining an estate plan. The short answer answer is that when a Will has a “pour-over” provision it is designed to act as a safety net for a trust. I’ll elaborate. Pour-over wills are a necessary instrument in a trust-centered estate plan….

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