UPDATE

I added direct links to the videos below:

Over a Thousand Miles from Wall Street…
How the unlikely state of South Dakota became the place where America’s credit card industry first began to really take off

A Closer Look at the Industry’s Best Customers

The big profits come from the 90 million who don’t pay off their credit card debt. The industry’s success has also been shaped by the genius of financial innovators.

Credit Reporting Agencies/Traps in the Fine Print

Why it’s important to understand your credit score and how it is compiled and also to read your credit card agreement — hard as it may be to decipher.

More Complaints Than Any Other Industry

Consumers’ banking/credit card complaints increase. But the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates the national banks, has been engaged in what some call a “turf battle” with the states’ regulators

The Efforts To Get Reform

Sen. Chris Dodd has introduced a credit card reform bill that would curb industry practices. But Dodd’s many previous attempts to reform the industry have all failed.

Memorable Quote: “The issuer can change the terms and conditions at will . You could be offered a 0% or 5 % interest rate today… and two months later that interest rate could be 30%”

In “Secret History of the Credit Card,” FRONTLINE® and The New York Times join forces to investigate an industry few Americans fully understand. In this one-hour report, correspondent Lowell Bergman uncovers the techniques used by the industry to earn record profits and get consumers to take on more debt.

Secret history of the credit card: watch it online

Probate is the process of having your will accepted by a Probate or
Surrogate Court so that the estate will be administered and all the
claims and distributions on the estate will be settled. Without a
Will this process is called the administration of an estate. In the
first case the Will names the Executor or Executors who administer
the property, in the second case the Administrator is set by statute,
agreement of the heirs and the approval of the Court. This article
deals with some of the problems with probate and, to a lesser extent,
administration of estates and some suggestions on how to remove your
assets from your estate to avoid these problems in certain cases.

The process of probate can be complex, long, and protracted. Needless to
say, it can consume a sizeable percentage of the estate
assets. While it’s important to consider drafting and executing a “Last
Will and Testament“, before undertaking such an important step in one’s
life, one should be made aware of other options that may conserve at
least some of one’s assets in a more efficient manner.

Drafting and executing a Will is generally a fairly
straightforward process but you need to make sure that the formalities
in your jurisdiction are adhered to in the strictest manner possible.
Why? Because protracted probate proceedings may occur whenever there is
a deviation from these procedures or when individuals who have something
to gain if a particular Will is not accepted for probate (i.e. the
intestate heirs or distributees who may be receiving substantially less
when a Will is written). Such errors may be used to drag the probate
procedure on causing a lot of grief to your intended heirs and may
result in your assets going to people you did not intend to give them
to. Also remember that a Will is a valuable document like a check, you
should never have old Wills circulating that have not been destroyed and
make sure
that they are properly href="http://alexroshuk.com/2007/12/15/tying-a-will-with-red-tape/">tied
(with a ribbon and seal). Never allow your lawyer to keep a “copy”
of the Will unless this is mentioned in the Will itself and never sign
more than one copy of any signature page when executing a Will (this may
later lead to fraudulent Wills being created that are basically
impossible to detect).

Problems with Probate

Probate lawyers may attempt to exacerbate animosity between
distributees and testate heirs
and sometimes the court may appoint “law guardians” to protect the
interests of minors or parties under a disability (such as someone who
has been institutionalized or in a coma). Such legal representatives are
usually entitled to compensation from the estate corpus, i.e. your hard
earned money going to pay lawyers you have never even met. Someone who
feels slighted after your death because you have not given them their
“due share” of your property may feel it necessary to fight for it in
probate. They may accuse your heirs of over reaching, undue influence,
duress or they
may suggest that you were incapacitated when you planned or executed
your Will or that your lawyer took advantage of you and convinced you to
sign a Will that would benefit beneficiaries who were friendly with the
lawyer. The originality of jilted heirs is boundless and some
unscrupulous probate lawyers may
take advantage of the situation as a means to secure their sizable fees.

What you can do

It may be possible to take some or even all of your assets out of
your estate. The main vehicles for such an estate plan including holding
property in “joint tenancy with right of survivorship” (JTRS) or making
bonds, stocks or bank accounts POD (payable on death) to a beneficiary.
JTRS means that
the property is automatically transferred at the time of death of one of
the “joint tenants” to the other remaining owners of the real property.
Naming a beneficiary is also the common procedure with life insurance
proceeds, retirement accounts and annuities. One only needs to make sure
that the financial institution has listed a beneficiary or beneficiaries
(it is also possible to name contingent beneficiaries this way). These
funds will then be available to the beneficiaries as soon as a certified
death certificate can be produced and delivered to the financial
institution along with whatever other proof the institution needs in
order to release the funds; such accounts do not enter into the estate
of the decedent but pass directly at the time of death.

Unfortunately this is the way our legal system has been created and the
rationale for Surrogate or Probate Court is that the court “system” is
there to protect the interests of the departed. However unscrupulous
individuals may attempt to use your death as an opportunity to benefit
thereby and thus deprive you of your true intention to past your assets
onto those whom have designated in a Last Will and Testament. Before
deciding to put all your assets into a Will make sure you have
considered all the options and spoken to an estate planner who has your
– and your chosen heirs – best interests at heart. Remember there may
be valid tax or liability reasons to place some of your property in an
estate, but using the vehicles mentioned here may make it easier for
your intended heirs to get some of your hard earned assets quickly and
with a minimum of legal costs at a time when they will certainly need
help.

By Alex T. Roshuk, Esq. (Remember, legal information is not legal
advice, please seek legal representation before making any important
decisions about your estate needs).