Stephen K. Christenson P.C., lawyers in Fairfax, VA, Virginia

Transfer on Death Registration of Securities

TOD or transfer on death registration of securities allows an investor to arrange for transfer of securities upon the investor's death without the necessity of having the securities go through probate. The executor or administrator of an estate does not have to take any action regarding specific securities that have TOD registration or even entire accounts that have been set up with TOD instructions.More...

Hilton on Charity

A remarkable statement about the nature of charity entered the public domain after hotel chain founder Conrad N. Hilton died on January 3, 1979, in Santa Monica, California. As the founder and head of Hilton hotels, Mr. Hilton was a very financially-rich man. A portion of his will revealed that he had begun to measure the riches of a man or woman in other ways. In his will, Mr. Hilton bequeathed property to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. He also described the nature of charity as follows.More...

Inheritance Without Planning Means No Changing the Default Plan

When a person dies intestate (without making and leaving a will), each state provides a default plan (usually known as the statute of descent and distribution) under with his or her net estate is disposed. When a person dies intestate, there is no changing the default plan. The default plan's sequences for determining who inherits and how much can not be changed. This article discusses the disadvantages of descent and distribution related to that inability to change who inherits and how much.More...

Gift Requirements

This article discusses the legal requirements for an ordinary gift: donor competence, donor intent, donor delivery, donee acceptance, and appropriate documentation, if necessary.More...

Will Contests -- Lack of Testamentary Capacity, Improper Execution, Bogus Will

You cannot contest a will simply because you don't like the provisions, or because you received less than you felt you should have received, or because the provisions were, in your opinion, unfair. You must have legal grounds, which, if supported by the evidence, would cause the will to be rejected by the Probate Court. More...