St. Louis Real Estate And Estate Planning Blog

Occasional fighting in a relationship is normal. Families, large and small, run into such conflicts. Money is often the root cause of disputes. It’s easy to see why dealing with inheritances and estate plans get complicated. To decrease the chances of a family feud, there are some steps you can take to ensure your will addresses common issues.

One of the main reasons that it can benefit Missouri residents to work with knowledgeable estate planning attorneys to create their wills and other testamentary documents is that such experts can help their clients create estate plans that stand up to challenges. An estate that is challenged during probate can be stuck in the process for years, creating more problems and costing more money to work through and ultimately resolve. Not everyone has the power to challenge every estate, and this post will explore what parties may have standing to challenge probated estates.

In general, a person who is an heir to a decedent or to whom the decedent owed money (a creditor) may have standing to challenge a probated estate. A challenge effectively says that the way the decedent's estate is being administered incorrectly or that there was a problem in the way certain estate planning documents were executed. For example, a child whose parent left them out of a will may challenge the parent's probated estate and claim that the parent was coerced into leaving them out through fraud perpetrated by others.

Buying a home is a significant financial move. Most people are making a huge investment when they seal the real estate deal. According to Zillow, the median home value in the U.S. has increased by $16,000 over the last year. It’s safe to say that homeowners have a lot at stake when it comes to protecting their property.

Most Missouri parents have attached contingencies to permitting their children to do what they want. For example, a parent may allow a child to watch cartoons if the child first makes their bed and washes the dishes. Contingencies exist in the workforce, too. A prospective employee may get a job offer that is contingent upon that person passing a background check or other assessment.

A contingency is a condition that must be satisfied before a secondary event may occur. They can play a big role in whether a person is able to purchase a home, and there are different types of contingencies that individuals may see in their residential real estate purchase agreements.