Why do you need an attorney for estate administration cases?
Upon embarking upon a legal process, most people recognize that attorneys are a valuable resource, professional advocates, and are trained and experienced to represent them before, during, and after. Estate Administration, also known as Probate, is a public legal process. This process transfers assets that belonged to a deceased person after satisfying all estate expenses and debts. For this reason, most people choose to hire an experienced attorney for help. If this is you, feel free to contact us now. If you’re not sure if this is you or not, please continue reading.
The help an attorney can provide will differ not only case-by-case but also person-to-person.
For example, if you are a beneficiary, I hope you will not need legal representation or assistance, so long as the executor of the estate is acting properly and administering the estate according to the law. If you believe you do, then you really should consult an attorney, particularly one who litigates estate matters.
However, if you are the executor of the estate, meaning you are in charge of handling everything, more than likely, you will benefit greatly from the assistance of an experienced attorney.
Minimally, an attorney can provide you with accurate information, general Probate concepts and procedures, common pitfalls, and a figurative road-map of the process upon which you are about to embark. This will help you to determine whether or not you can do it alone, or with some advice, counsel, and drafting of legal documents/forms, or if you want to be spared the legal responsibility, potential headaches, hassles, and potential personal financial costs altogether.
Other considerations an executor should keep in mind are the following.
Time - How much extra time do I have in my life to work as an executor? Am I working? Am I taking care of my family?
Details - Am I a detail oriented person? Do I get frustrated when the path or options are not clear? How patient am I with government employees who don’t help? (by the way, by law, they’re not allowed to help or give advice) Am I really good at record keeping and money tracking?
Technicalities - Do I like nuisances or am I bothered by them? Do I usually have patience when things don’t go quick and easy? Do I like filling out forms? Am I good at figuring out online forms and procedures? Can I perform analysis with legal consequences to ensure procedures are followed and problems are prevented?
Communication - Am I a good communicator, both written and verbally? Do I enjoy answering questions and explaining not-so-intuitive things to others? Can I handle pressure from beneficiaries waiting longer than they expect to receive their inheritance?
Estate - What is in the estate? Is it complicated? Are there many assets? Does the deceased person have valid creditors? How much debt and/or medical bills are owed by the deceased person? Are any taxes due?
Documents - Was there a Last Will? Do you have the original? Do you have an up-to-date financial record and information about the deceased person’s assets and liabilities?
Hopefully, by answering the questions above you can consider and begin to determine whether or not you need the assistance of an attorney.
A properly prepared estate and estate information can alleviate the need for legal services, particularly if the preparation was done by an experienced estate planning attorney.
An unprepared estate creates significantly more work on the executor and often requires the professional assistance of an experienced attorney.
Not all legal processes require attorneys. People are free to represent themselves. In some cases, a person doesn’t need to hire an attorney to help them after receiving a speeding ticket. However, often, even first offenders find it comforting and achieve a better outcome when they hire an attorney to represent them after getting a speeding ticket.
Probate, or administering an estate, is not really much different.
Some estates are small and simple enough that do not require the assistance of an attorney. For example, if the estate is insolvent, meaning the person owed more than the value of the property owned, family members may be better off not administering the estate and allow the creditors to do the work to process the estate. If not, the estate administration gets complicated because there is a priority of claims, a need to negotiate valid debts, decisions that must be made that may not benefit the “executor”, and various processes for different situations that are likely largely unfamiliar to someone who is not an attorney and/or someone experiencing Probate for the first time. The pitfalls are numerous.
When most adults pass away, they leave behind assets and debts. The amount of each varies. Either way, their estate must be administered. Debts are satisfied based on the law’s set priority of claims. And each asset may pass differently. Some avoid Probate, by operation of law, while others require Probate to transfer title or ownership to the beneficiary(ies).
For example, life insurance and retirement accounts, by operation of law and not through Probate (in most cases) passes to surviving and named beneficiaries of those assets, unless the assets passing through Probate are not sufficient to satisfy them.
However, many assets, such as real estate, vehicles, and other personal property without beneficiary designations must go through the Probate process in order to be accessible by the beneficiary(ies).
Even if someone believes they do not need legal assistance from an attorney, I would suggest at least getting a consult, complimentary if possible, at the onset to find out information before beginning. Many estate administration attorneys will give you priceless information that prevents or forecasts many future problems.
I often encounter people who are grieving and very emotional after losing a loved one. And even if they aren’t, the Probate process is not naturally intuitive even when confronting seemingly simple situations. Mistakes are costly, and the cost is often imposed upon the executor who is often working for free.
It makes sense, in my opinion, to at least get a consult or two about what an attorney can do for you while administering (Probating) an estate. You should know what you don’t know in order to avoid pitfalls and costly mistakes.
If you are about to start the estate administration (Probate) process, of if you’re in the middle of it and trying to figure it out, and if you have questions and/or you would like to learn more about your specific situation, we would be delighted to have an attorney talk with you about your circumstances and serve you in your efforts to administer (Probate) the estate. Feel free to contact us.