Bretz Wills & Probate Lawyer, West Virginia

Sponsored Law Firm


Includes: Estate Administration, Living Wills, Wills

Christopher A. Barnum

Real Estate, Wills & Probate, Family Law, Business Organization
Status:  In Good Standing           Licensed:  39 Years

Donna Freedman Borgstrom

Elder Law, Commercial Real Estate, Wills, Health Care Other
Status:  In Good Standing           Licensed:  37 Years

George Armistead

Oil & Gas, Wills & Probate, Personal Injury, Accident & Injury
Status:  In Good Standing           Licensed:  48 Years

FREE CONSULTATION 

CONTACT

Whitney R. Kerns

Litigation, Oil & Gas, Energy, Wills & Probate
Status:  In Good Standing           

Amber Urlso Sellaro

Family Law, Criminal, Real Estate, Wills & Probate
Status:  In Good Standing           

Free Help: Use This Form or Call 800-620-0900

Member Representative

Call me for fastest results!
800-620-0900

Free Help: Use This Form or Call 800-620-0900

By submitting this lawyer request, I confirm I have read and agree to the Consent to Receive Messages from all messaging and voice technologies including Email, Text, Phone, Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy. Information provided is not privileged or confidential.


Free Help: Use This Form or Call 800-943-8690

Member Representative

Call me for fastest results!
800-943-8690

Free Help: Use This Form or Call 800-943-8690

By submitting this lawyer request, I confirm I have read and agree to the Consent to Receive Messages from all messaging and voice technologies including Email, Text, Phone, Terms of Use, and Privacy Policy. Information provided is not privileged or confidential.

TIPS

Easily find Bretz Wills & Probate Lawyers and Bretz Wills & Probate Law Firms. For more attorneys, search all Estate areas including Estate Planning, Trusts and Power of Attorney attorneys.

LEGAL TERMS

SPECIFIC BEQUEST

A specific item of property that is left to a named beneficiary under a will. If the person who made the will no longer owns the property when he dies, the bequ... (more...)
A specific item of property that is left to a named beneficiary under a will. If the person who made the will no longer owns the property when he dies, the bequest fails. In other words, the beneficiary cannot substitute a similar item in the estate. Example: If John leaves his 1954 Mercedes to Patti, and when John dies the 1954 Mercedes is long gone, Patti doesn't receive John's current car or the cash equivalent of the Mercedes. See ademption.

INTESTATE SUCCESSION

The method by which property is distributed when a person dies without a valid will. Each state's law provides that the property be distributed to the closest s... (more...)
The method by which property is distributed when a person dies without a valid will. Each state's law provides that the property be distributed to the closest surviving relatives. In most states, the surviving spouse, children, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, and next of kin inherit, in that order.

ABATEMENT

A reduction. After a death, abatement occurs if the deceased person didn't leave enough property to fulfill all the bequests made in the will and meet other exp... (more...)
A reduction. After a death, abatement occurs if the deceased person didn't leave enough property to fulfill all the bequests made in the will and meet other expenses. Gifts left in the will are cut back in order to pay taxes, satisfy debts or take care of other gifts that are given priority under law or by the will itself.

NET ESTATE

The value of all property owned at death less liabilities or debts.

SPECIAL ADMINISTRATOR

(1) In the law of wills and estates, a person appointed by the court to take charge of only a designated portion of an estate during probate. For example, a spe... (more...)
(1) In the law of wills and estates, a person appointed by the court to take charge of only a designated portion of an estate during probate. For example, a special administrator with particular expertise on art might be appointed to oversee the probate of a wealthy person's art collection, but not the entire estate. (2) A person appointed to be responsible for a deceased person's property for a limited time or during an emergency, such as a challenge to the will or to the qualifications of the named executor. In such cases, the special administrator's duty is to maintain and preserve the estate, not necessarily to take control of the probate process

DEED OF TRUST

See trust deed.

PER CAPITA

Under a will, the most common method of determining what share of property each beneficiary gets when one of the beneficiaries dies before the willmaker, leavin... (more...)
Under a will, the most common method of determining what share of property each beneficiary gets when one of the beneficiaries dies before the willmaker, leaving children of his or her own. For example, Fred leaves his house jointly to his son Alan and his daughter Julie. But Alan dies before Fred, leaving two young children. If Fred's will states that heirs of a deceased beneficiary are to receive the property per capita, Julie and the two grandchildren will each take a third. If, on the other hand, Fred's will states that heirs of a deceased beneficiary are to receive the property per stirpes, Julie will receive one-half of the property, and Alan's two children will share his half in equal shares (through Alan by right of representation).

WARRANTY DEED

A seldom-used type of deed that contains express assurances about the legal validity of the title being transferred.

INHERIT

To receive property from someone who has died. Traditionally, the word 'inherit' applied only when one received property from a relative who died without a will... (more...)
To receive property from someone who has died. Traditionally, the word 'inherit' applied only when one received property from a relative who died without a will. Currently, however, the word is used whenever someone receives property from the estate of a deceased person.

SAMPLE LEGAL CASES

James v. Knotts

... On May 1, 2006, Irene Nelson's last will and testament was admitted to probate by the County Commission of Clay County, and the appellants were qualified as co-executrixes of the estate. On September 18, 2006, this civil ...

Jackson v. Swain

... from the circuit court's order granting summary judgment in favor of respondent Phillis Swain, plaintiff below, and respondent Robert Freshwater, intervenor/plaintiff below, and ordering County Clerk Sylvia Benzo, a defendant below, to admit the Will of Morris G. Main to probate. ...

Sayre v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company

... separate lawsuits. On February 22, 2005, the circuit court approved a global settlement agreement that resolved all of these lawsuits and approved the distribution of the probate and non-probate assets of both decedents. With ...