5 Reasons You Should Hire a Probate Attorney

If you're unsure if you need the services of a probate attorney or not, consider everything that their fee will include. Regardless if there is a valid will or not or potential contestations, dividing assets and the estate as well as the rest of the legwork that is involved is complicated and very time consuming. Additionally, if you are the executor of the will, it is your responsibility to ensure all requests are honored or you risk legal consequences. Hiring a lawyer will be beneficial in many ways, and here are the arduous tasks you can skip when you do.

1. Debts

Unless the deceased was one of those rare people to pass away debt-free, there are likely some creditors waiting for their payment to arrive. Before anything can be distributed to surviving loved ones, all debts must be paid and cleared. That involves publishing a notice and determining how to settle any outstanding debts with what assets are available. While it may appear simple at first, there is a lot to be done. Decisions have to be made if there is an outstanding loan on property such as a vehicle or a boat, and some items might even have to be sold.

2. Taxes

It's true that death and taxes are the only things you can ever rely on in this life, and the two seem to go together hand in hand. Taxes will still have to be filed on behalf of the deceased, and there are estate taxes, gift taxes, and a whole mess of other expenses that will be associated with the process. If number crunching isn't your thing, better to hand the job over to a probate attorney.


3. Heirs

There's nothing worse than an antsy heir who is waiting for their piece of the pie. Relatives and friends will start ringing constantly and question how you're choosing to spend your free time. How dare you watch television for an hour after your full-time job when I still haven't gotten my inheritance yet! The court process can take several months, if not a year or more to complete. This is especially true for larger estates or people who choose to go through the process without a probate attorney. Filling out a form wrong can push everything back by months.


4. Contestations

Everything is going great until Uncle Rick decides that he's unhappy with his share. Dealing with disputes is not only a legal matter, but it can get very personal very quickly. In order to preserve relationships with friends and family, it's better to remain on neutral ground. A probate attorney can ensure you won't get tangled up in anyone else's drama, which will make holidays that much easier.

5. Pressure

If you want to know what it's like to feel pressure on all sides, then don't bother hiring a lawyer because being executor of an estate is like being squeezed as tightly as possible. Suddenly people will be coming out of the woodwork to make unrealistic demands on you. Remember, you still have a life to live.