MILTON BERRY SCOTT
Attorney at Law
Walnut Creek, California

What to Do When Someone Dies

What to Do When Someone Dies, now available for purchase, is a guide covering the basic concerns that people face when someone dies. Included are separate sections on immediate practical concerns, legal concerns, financial concerns, and tax concerns.


IMMEDIATE PRACTICAL CONCERNS

  • When Someone is Dying
  • Anatomical Gifts
  • Autopsy
  • Choosing a Funeral Home or Mortuary
  • Funeral Arrangements
  • Burial or Cremation Arrangements
  • Death Certificate
  • Obituary
  • Finding the Will

    LEGAL CONCERNS

  • Getting an Attorney
  • Listing Assets
  • Personal Items and Pets
  • Probate
  • Transferring Assets
  • If the Decedent had a Trust
  • If the Decedent Was a Trustee, Executor, or Fiduciary
  • Wrongful Death Action

    FINANCIAL CONCERNS

  • Paying the Bills
  • Continuing Business After Death
  • Valuing Assets
  • Casualty Insurance for Assets
  • Safe Deposit Box
  • Medical Insurance
  • Social Security
  • Retirement and Annuity Benefits
  • Credit Cards, Unpaid Salary, and Uncashed Travelers Checks
  • Lump Sum Pension, Profit Sharing, IRA, and other Benefits
  • Workman's Compensation Benefits
  • Life Insurance

    TAX CONCERNS

  • Final Income Tax Returns
  • Gift Tax Returns
  • Federal Estate Tax Returns
  • United State Federal Estate Tax Rates
  • State Inheritance and Estate Tax Returns

    What to Do When Someone Dies is not an exhaustive do-it-yourself book. Instead, it is an overview of the concerns that typically arise when people die. Having a rough idea of these issues will aid you in dealing with an attorney, accountant, or other professional when someone dies.


    Click here if you want to return to home page.
    Please click here to view some excerpts from this book or to place your order.

    Probate in California

    Probate in California attempts to steer a middle course in between the sort of do-it-yourself probate books that you might see in a bookstore, but which offer little practical advice and the highly technical legal volumes that will make sense only to probate attorneys. Instead, it offers practical advice on the steps involved in a California probate. It is not a do-it-yourself book, but rather a guide which should be especially useful to law students, paralegal students, and anyone who is the executor or administrator of a probate estate in California.

  • Why Probate?
  • Immediate Considerations at Death
  • Transferring Assets
  • Starting Probate
  • Initial Responsibility after Appointment
  • Payment of Debts
  • Investment of Estate Funds
  • Sale or Lease of Estate Assets
  • Independent Administration of Estates Act
  • Taxes
  • Protecting the Family
  • Special Situations
  • Concluding the Estate
  • Final Matters

    Probate in California is now available.


    Click here if you want to return to home page.
    Please click here to read more about this book or to place your order.

    Estate Planning for California Residents

    Estate Planning for California Residents, first published in 1985, is now in its third edition (2004). Published by CCH (formerlyCommerce Clearing House) and running 224 pages, it is an overview of California estate planning and includes the following chapters:

  • Estate Planning
  • Title to Assets
  • Property Ownership by Husband and Wife
  • Incapacity
  • Wills and Intestate Succession
  • Probate
  • Federal Estate Tax
  • Gifts
  • Charitable Giving
  • Trusts
  • Business Assets
  • Life Insurance, Annuities, and Employee Benefits
  • Miscellaneous Assets
  • Summary of Estate Planning

    Estate Planning for California Residents is not a do-it-yourself book, but rather a guide to assist you in dealing with an estate planning professional. Copies can be obtained from from CCH at 1-800-248-3248.


    Click here to return to home page.
    © Milton Berry Scott, 1996-2008