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Short, plain-English answers to the questions behind our guides, with the law cited and linked to the official source.
Money and identity
Credit, identity theft and keeping the right records.
- How to Freeze Your Credit at All Three BureausA credit freeze is free, takes minutes and blocks most new accounts in your name. Here's how it works, how fast it must happen and how it differs from a fraud alert.
- How Long to Keep Tax RecordsThe IRS rules on how long to keep returns, receipts and home records, from three years to indefinitely, in one chart.
Estates and end of life
The first days after a death, funeral rights and what families owe.
- What to Do When Someone Dies: The First DaysWho to call first, what to bring to the funeral home, how many death certificates to order and who to notify in the first weeks.
- Your Rights at a Funeral Home: The FTC Funeral RuleFederal law gives you the right to prices by phone, an itemized price list, and to buy only what you want. Here's what the Funeral Rule requires.
- Are You Responsible for a Parent's Debt After They Die?Who pays a loved one's debts after death, when family members can be on the hook, and what debt collectors can and can't say.
Retirement and Medicare
Enrollment windows, penalties and claiming decisions.
- Medicare Enrollment Periods and Late PenaltiesWhen to sign up for Medicare at 65, what happens if you're still working, and how to avoid the Part B and Part D penalties that can last for life.
- When to Claim Social Security: 62, Full Retirement Age or 70How much claiming early costs, what waiting to 70 adds, how spousal and survivor benefits change the math, and the 2026 earnings limits.
Home and renting
Contracts, contractors and keeping a home in shape.
State-specific
Rules that turn on state law, side by side for Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and California.
- Transfer on Death Deeds in Oklahoma, Texas, California and FloridaHow transfer on death deeds pass a home without probate in Oklahoma, Texas and California, the recording deadlines in each, and what Florida owners use instead.
- Small Claims Court Limits in Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and CaliforniaHow much you can sue for in small claims court in four states, what it costs to file, and which claims don't belong there.
- Security Deposit Return Deadlines in Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and CaliforniaHow long a landlord has to return a security deposit in four states, what the tenant must do to start the clock, and the penalties for keeping it wrongly.
- Does an Oklahoma Estate Need Probate? The Small Estate Affidavit and Summary AdministrationWhen Oklahoma families can skip probate with a small estate affidavit, when summary administration applies, and which assets pass outside probate entirely.