I have branches, but no fruit, trunk or leaves. What am I?

You find yourself in a strange place guarded by two guards.One of the guard always say truth while other always lies.You don't know the identity of the two.You can ask only one question to go out from there. What should you ask?

Two old friends, Jack and Jill, meet after a long time, and discussing as:

Jack: Hey, how are you, man?

Bill: Not bad, got married and I have three kids now.

Jack: That's awesome. How old are they?

Bill: The product of their ages is 72 and the sum of their ages is the same as your birth date.

Jack: Cool..But I still don't know.

Bill: My eldest kid just started taking piano lessons.

Jack: Oh, now I get it.

How old are Bill's kids?

I am soft and cuddly that soothe your heart. But, If you pick my last name I am going to tear you all apart. Who am I?

Mother's Name is Mrs. SIXTY TWO
Son's Name is FIFTY TWO
Daughter's Name is FORTY TWO
What is Name of Father?

The day before yesterday I was 25 and the next year I will be 28. This is true only one day in a year. What day is my birthday?

Next Number in the Series,

5, 16, 49, 104, ?

A newspaper is supposed to have 60 pages, but pages 24 and 41 are missing.
Which other pages won't be there?

If we change the South-East direction into North and North-East into West and all others similarly.
Can you find out which direction will be in the place of South-West direction?

Can you divide numbers from 1 to 9 (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9) into two groups so that the sum of the numbers of each group is equal?

Note: 9 cannot be turned over to make it 6.