My ex-husband died this month, leaving a hand written will, leaving everything to me.

Your best bet would be to ask them to reissue the check to you, although they may not do that. It will probably cost more to probate the will...

Mother passed away leaving a Living Will. Older sister is Executor. Sister hired an attorney to assist.

First off, I assume you mean Revocable Living Trust. The signing of a receipt and release is standard practice. I would tell you to hire your own...

Do beneficiaries of a revocable living trust have to pay taxes of the money they inherit from it? What about mutual funds?

As a general rule an inheritance received is not taxable to the recipient. If there were any inheritance and/or estate taxes they were likely...

The other attorneys answers are perfect, but I would add: If you have a mortgage on the house you will also want to speak to the mortgage company...

My wife is the sole trustee of her deceased grandmothers trust.

A couple of things: From the sound of it you would not want to invade this trust and distribute funds for the special needs beneficiary - it...

Can a "TOD" designation on assets keep my probate estate small?

I think you can avoid probate with this method, but you have to be very aware of the designations and backup designations and that they actually...

My mother passed 6 years ago with a revocable trust I recently found stock certificates. Do i need to an estate to cash them.

The first question would be how were they owned. If they were owned by her personally (not the trust) they will have to be passed through probate...

Could you please translate below in a clear manner?

I would add that: the clause states that any specific devises (gifts) are not to be reduced by any tax. In other words, if the Will gives a gift...

Who legally gets my deceased mother's tax refund?

Mr. Larson is correct, the refund will be payable to her estate (either under the will or if no will under the laws of intestacy). If the estate...

My father passed away but the Living Trust that my parents set up is in his ss # - what activities can be performed?

Ms. Akin offers good advice. I would advise that you hire an attorney to assist you. I will say this however: most living trusts, if set up as a...