If you’ve ever been the victim of identity theft you know how aggravating it can be. Yet, even if you haven’t been victimized by identity thieves you may still have to deal with the problem because a thief has stolen the identity of a deceased relative.

According to a new study about 2 ½ million deceased Americans have their identities stolen every year. When this happens, the former spouses and family members of the deceased person are often left to deal with the mess.

According to financial security firm ID Analytics, identity thieves stole the Social Security numbers of about 1.6 million Americans last year. In another 800,000 instances, criminals used a deceased person’s identity to apply for credit cards, cell phone service, or other lines of credit. This type of identity theft can cause a headache for the deceased person’s family members, but they won’t be responsible for paying back any debt.

There are some practical steps you can take to help protect you from this kind of headache. A good way to start is to closely guard financial and personal information, especially information belonging to an elderly family member who is in a nursing home or other elder care facility.

Once a family member has died, you’ll need to ensure that the person handling the probate case contacts all relevant government agencies and notifies them of the person’s death. This will greatly reduce the chances that someone will be able to open an account in the deceased person’s name and cause the estate problems.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If someone trusts you enough to ask you to serve as a personal representative, executor, or estate administrator, you should take it as a compliment. You should also prepare to take on this role by familiarizing yourself with the duties you will have to perform. Once you are appointed and it’s time to get to work, there are a few pointers you’ll want to make sure you always follow.

Tip 1: Keep estate funds separate and use them only for estate purposes

Your job as executor allows you to manage all estate property, possibly including bank accounts and other sources of funds. It’s vital that you always keep these funds separate from your own and use them only for estate purposes. You should also be very careful when you use estate funds to pay estate expenses. Always be sure the expenses are legitimate, and never use estate funds to pay for personal expenses even if you intend to pay them back.

Tip 2: Pay close attention to the court’s order

Probate court proceedings can sometimes feel more relaxed than criminal or civil proceedings, but you must always be sure to follow the court’s orders. If you don’t think you can or should follow the court’s directions you should speak to you probate attorney and ask what options you have.

Tip 3: Keep your attorney close

Speaking of a probate attorney, it’s vital that you hire one as soon as possible. Probate is complicated, and you’ll need the advice of an experienced attorney to do your job properly and ensure you don’t get yourself into trouble.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Tip 1: Don’t Sign Anything

Though it is a rather abhorrent practice, creditors will often try to get a family member to pay for the debts a deceased person left behind. Some creditors will try to persuade the family members that they should feel obligated to pay, even though they are not legally responsible for doing so. They may try to ask, for example, for you to assume an unpaid credit card debt. Don’t. You are under no legal obligation to pay for the debt a deceased family member left behind no matter how guilty the creditors try to make you feel.

Tip 2: Contact the Estate

If a family member left behind debt, that debt must be paid by the deceased person’s estate. In order to be repaid, the creditors have to contact the estate and file a claim. If they are calling you and putting pressure on you to pay, you should contact the estate representative as soon as possible. You can also send a letter to the creditor informing it of the death of the family member and include the contact information for the estate representative.

Tip 3: Don’t Act Quickly

The grieving process can take time, and creditors know this. They also know that you are more likely to make a rash decision and choose to pay off a deceased family member debts while you are grieving. If you are being subjected to multiple phone calls or communications, you should demand the creditors cease contacting you. If they continue to do so, or if they harass you, threaten you, or take similar actions, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission as well as sue them for a violation of debt collection laws.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

When he died in April of this year, painter Thomas Kinkade left a legacy of popular paintings. An estimated one out of 20 American homes owns a copy of his work. His multimillion dollar estate is now being contested over in a California probate court. The parties fighting over his legacy include representative of Mr. Kinkade’s company and his wife on one side, with his live-in girlfriend on the other.

At the time of his death, Mr. Kinkade had been living with Amy Pinto-Walsh, his girlfriend and personal assistant. Ms. Pinto-Walsh is now claiming that Mr. Kinkade left behind a handwritten will that left her as the inheritor of his home as well as the recipient of $10 million in order to start a Thomas Kinkade museum in that home.

Representatives of Mr. Kinkade’s company and his wife are claiming that Ms. Pinto-Walsh is bound by the terms of a confidentiality agreement she signed as part of her employment as Mr. Kinkade’s personal assistant. That agreement, they claim, obligates Ms. Pinto-Walsh to have her case heard in front of a private arbitrator and not a probate court.

The California probate court judge has yet to decide on whether the case will be heard in probate court, bt it has also scheduled a hearing to determine the validity of the handwritten notes that Ms. Pinto-Walsh claims Mr. Kinkade left behind as his last will and testament. The handwritten notes are almost impossible to read, but California does allow for handwritten wills, also known as holographic wills. The hearing to determine the validity of these documents will be held in July.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Taking the time to create a last Will and testament is a very simple step you can take to ensure your wishes are followed and your family is adequately cared for should the worst happen. Unfortunately, most people are not very familiar with the laws surrounding Wills, or some of the uncommon language encountered in the Will making process. Here is a brief list of some of the words you may come across while making your Will.

Probate. The word “probate” refers to the state laws and procedures that apply when a person dies. Specifically, probate is the legal process that some of your property must go through before new owners can take possession. Probate courts are those courts that only deal with probate matters, such as determining whether a Will is valid or who has the rights to inherit when someone dies without a Will.

Executor. After you die, someone will have to notify the probate court about your death and become responsible for managing your property until a court makes a decision about who should be the new owner. This person is called an executor. You usually name your choice of executor in your will, though a court can also appoint one if you don’t leave a Will. Executors are sometimes known as personal representatives or estate administrators.

Non-probate property. While probate laws determine what happens to some of your property, other property you leave behind does not have to go in front of a probate court before a new owner takes possession. For example, if you have a bank account with your spouse and each of you is a co-owner, your spouse can take possession of the money in the account immediately after you die. Because this property is not subject to probate court rules, it is called non-probate property or non-probate assets.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A Pennsylvania probate court judge has issued an order sealing Joe Paterno’s Will, making it unavailable to the public for inspection. The will was apparently filed into probate on April 5th, and the order sealing it was issued four days later, according to the Wilkes-Barre Citizen’s Voice newspaper. The petition that asked the court to seal the documents, as well as the courts order granting the petition, have also been sealed. The Citizen’s Voice has also been unable to identify which of the five judges in Centre County issued the order.

Joe Paterno died in January of this year as the result of lung cancer. His death came shortly after he was removed as Penn State’s head football coach by the university’s Board of Trustees. The removal came after child sex abuse allegations arose against Jerry Sandusky, a retired assistant Penn State football coach. Mr. Sandusky is currently on trial for criminal child sex abuse charges.

Local probate attorneys have stated that the court’s decision to seal the will is very strange. Probate court documents are usually available to the public, and though many people have a desire to keep these documents private, courts only very rarely choose to seal a will. The Citizen’s Voice reports that it could find no record of another will in Centre County being sealed in the past 18 months.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The estate of civil rights icon Rosa Parks has been going through a six-year court battle ever since she died in October of 2005. However, it appears that this battle may soon be coming to an end. A Michigan probate court judge has stated that he will issue an order within the next 30 days stating that the estate property that has been the subject of the conflict will be finally transferred to the new owners.

Ever since she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to a white passenger in 1955, Ms. Parks has been a figurehead and defining symbol of the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. Her fame and notoriety has caused many of her personal possessions and memorabilia to become incredibly valuable. The subject of the probate battle has primarily been who owns much of this memorabilia. The contest was between 15 of Ms. Parks’ nieces and nephews and the representatives of the nonprofit organization she started, the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.

A Michigan appeals court had previously ruled that the 15 nieces and nephews were the rightful owners of the memorabilia because they were the legal heirs of Ms. Parks. However, the Michigan Supreme Court overturned that ruling in December of 2011, stating that the property should be in the possession of the Institute.

The Michigan probate court judge overseeing the case will issue orders that transfer the property to the Institute and which dictate that any proceeds from the sale of the memorabilia will be divided between the Institute and the nieces and nephews. The family members will be entitled to 20% of the proceeds while the institute will receive the 80% share.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

With the legal status of her estate still in limbo, many of the possessions owned by former copper heiress Huguette Clark will be sold in what may be one of the more valuable estate sales of recent memory. Ms. Clark inherited an estimated $400 million fortune as the sole heir of Gilded Age mining magnate William Clarke. Though she spent the last several decades of her life living in a New York hospital room, Ms. Clarke left behind some very valuable apartments in New York that had been unoccupied for decades.

The three apartments are all located in the same building located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 72^nd St. in New York, overlooking the Central Park sailboat pond where E.B. White set his “Stuart Little” story. The apartments, occupying about 50,000 square feet, have been untouched for years. One of them even has a telephone with an exchange number written on the phone as “Butterfield 8.” Though they apparently require some substantial renovations, they are being listed for an asking price of $55 million. Another property Ms. Clark owned in Santa Barbara, California is estimated to be worth $100 million, while a Connecticut home is listed for $24 million.

The estate is also selling several jewelry pieces owned by Ms. Clark, though few have been worn by her since the 1930s and had been sequestered in a safety deposit box in bank vault since then. The auction house Christie’s is selling the pieces in April, with some of the more valuable diamond rings estimated to be worth anywhere between $2 and $8 million.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Proper estate planning means understanding your state’s probate laws or code. In North Dakota, this entails understanding the North Dakota Century Code. Because many people are under the mistaken impression that nuncupative or oral wills are valid in North Dakota, they are not engaging in proper estate planning.

Proper estate planning means taking necessary steps today to ensure that your loved ones inherit your property without unnecessary delay and without incurring unnecessary legal fees. This is especially true if you are suffering from a terminal illness. Even if you are currently well, the uncertain nature of a terminal illness requires that you at least contemplate drafting a written will. The same is true if you are one of the brave military soldiers or officers responsible for protecting the rest of our country. Because you may be called upon to serve your country at any time, proper estate planning means taking necessary steps beforehand to ensure that your will covers your loved ones.

Proper estate planning means knowing that nuncupative wills are invalid in North Dakota, regardless of whether you are suffering from a last illness or at war. The North Dakota probate courts will not admit an oral will into probate, regardless of the extenuating conditions that required using a nuncupative or oral will.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

A nuncupative will is a will created orally. As an exception to the general requirement that a valid will must be in writing, some states allow their residents to create oral wills in very limited situations. Typically, oral wills are valid in these states if made during times of military conflict or war by soldiers, during long voyages at sea by mariners and during the final stages of a terminal illnesses at home or on a persons deathbed. As an exception to the general requirement that a validly created will is one that is in writing, in states recognizing oral wills, their statutory requirements are very strict.  Typically, in states recognizing oral wills, impartial witnesses must be present to hear a declarant’s last dying wishes and must memorialize his wishes in writing within a very limited time-frame.

 The North Dakota Century Code specifically states that nuncupative wills are invalid, regardless of the presence of any extenuating circumstances. As such, even if you are a military service member called to active duty, your oral utterances, last dying testamentary wishes, and property bequests will unfortunately go unrecognized. Creating a written will before deployment, before or after an illness or before any other medical emergency is imperative in North Dakota.

Raymond J. German, LTD. is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.