If you are leaving on vacation, the Attorney should have made your case a priority. We always explain the process and time lines after our first meeting. If a client is heading out if town soon after, it's at that point a high priority file that gets bumped on top.
I agree with the two other answers. Scheduling and work flow are different in every office. But the fact that the attorney didn't remember you is very disappointing. I would contact one of the other attorneys close to you and get this done with a commitment from the attorney to finish before you leave on your trip. Good luck.
As the previous attorney mentioned, it depends on a number of factors. But if you have a fairly straight forward situation, an attorney could expedite the process and get documents ready to sign within a matters of days.
The time required varies depending on what kinds of things you actually need as part of the trust. And the attorney's schedule. Send me an email, I am confident I can assist you...
How long it takes to settle a trust after the creator or grantor dies depends on what needs to be done. It usually takes a few months, but it could take much longer. If the trustee has to value and sell numerous assets, if creditors have made demands on the trust, or if there is a complicated tax situation, the process can take some time.
An attorney can help you determine the best options for your particular situation. An attorney’s expertise and clear and accurate drafting of a trust can save your family much heartache and money in the long run.
During the probate period, a will becomes public record, and following this, creditors come out of the woodwork. Under current law, creditors have access to the estate’s property before the trustee. This means that any remaining wealth meant to fund the trust could simply disappear in order to pay the person’s remaining debts. Common types of creditors that may appear during a probate proceeding include the IRS, home loan banks, hospitals, and occasionally the state welfare agency.
Common types of creditors that may appear during a probate proceeding include the IRS, home loan banks, hospitals, and occasionally the state welfare agency.
Disputes over the time it takes to settle a trust or an estate often arise between immediate family members. For example, if one sibling is named as the trustee, the others might feel he or she is inefficient in resolving the trust. A trust estate may seem straightforward at first glance, but they can be surprisingly complicated and beneficiaries may get impatient when things aren’t resolved as quickly as they had expected.
Because the outcome can sometimes be unpredictable, estate planning is a messy business. This is especially true where testamentary trusts are involved. Not only does the will have to be proven valid, but the intent of the trust must be clearly defined. If the will was written without anyone’s knowledge, this becomes even more difficult.
A trust estate may seem straightforward at first glance, but they can be surprisingly complicat ed and beneficiaries may get impatient when things aren’t resolved as quickly as they had expected. In addition, settling can also be prolonged if the trustees are not clearly defined.
Even if there are assets, such as homes, to be sold, the Trust should be wrapped up and distributed within eighteen months. Rarely should a Trust take two years, or more, to make a Trust distribution.
In the case of a good Trustee, the Trust should be fully distributed within twelve to eighteen months after the Trust administration begins . But that presumes there are no problems, such as a lawsuit or inheritance fights. Even if there are assets, such as homes, to be sold, the Trust should be wrapped up and distributed within eighteen months.
Unfortunately, the California Probate Court does not provide a bright-line rule for Trust distributions. There is no definite timeframe stated in our statutes. But the reasonableness standard still mandates a distribution be made timely.
The Trust distribution could also be delayed where someone brings a Trust contest lawsuit. If the Trust, or an amendment to the Trust, is being challenged as invalid, then a distribution cannot be made until the lawsuit is settled.
Moreover, the Trustee can, and should, make a preliminary distribution to the beneficiaries before the final Trust distribution. For example, if the Trust estate has $1 million in cash, the Trustee can distribute $750,000 to the beneficiaries and retain $250,000 in reserve. This is true even if there are other assets that need to be sold.
Generally, people hire trust attorneys to write trusts but you can prepare your own trust document. It may only take a few minutes to write up the actual trust document but if you have a complex trust it could take several weeks to transfer ownership of your assets to your trust.
A revocable trust operates under your Social Security number for tax purposes which means that revocable trusts are quicker than irrevocable trusts to create since you do not have to apply to the Internal Revenue Service for a Tax Identification Number for the trust. You can act as the trustee of your own trust which means you do not have ...
You can act as the trustee of your own trust which means you do not have to spend time finding someone to manage the trust. You do though have to name beneficiaries and it may take you some time to decide how to split the trust's assets between your heirs.
A state-certified notary must witness the final trust document but your attorney should have a notary on staff so this should not cause a delay in the process. Having created the trust, you must provide copies of it to your bank, broker and investment companies and ask all of these firms to re-title your accounts.
The attorney should advise you at the first meeting how long it will be to complete everything; if things are delayed for some reason, the attorney should be calling YOU to explain why! I don't like the sound of how things are going with this attorney and agree with the others that you may want to try to move on.
Unfortunately, if the lawyer has already spent time on your case, he may feel justified in sending you a bill for the time spent to date. You will have to review your agreement with the attorney (if any). Sometimes telling the attorney that you are upset and are considering filing a complaint with the local legal ethics board will (a) ...
YES, you definitely need a new attorney (if you want to go that route) - it shouldn't take that long at all, and as the other post said and I agree - you shouldn't have any relative or friend helping you with these papers - it's none of their business. And go back and get the papers from the original lawyer. Good luck.
Drafting a will is a very quick process that can usually be accomplished within a matter of weeks or sooner in most cases. It really depends on the complexity of the will and whether there are any trusts created or any tax planning necessary.
If she is hesitant, the delay comes from her. If most lawyers are typical of what I do , we generally have a will completed within a few days of the office visit and we can do an office visit on one or two days notice. If she is hesitant stress to her how much extra it can cost her heirs if she does not do a will, and that the state decides her affairs rather than her.
The good news is that it costs very little create your own will, living trust, power of attorney, or healthcare directive. About six in ten (59%) of our DIY ("do it yourself") readers used estate planning software (like Nolo’s WillMaker & Trust) or an online service, and 85% of them paid less than $100.
When it comes to estate planning, procrastination tends to be the norm. (That was reflected in our survey: Only 2% of readers who had created estate planning documents were under the age of 50, and less than a quarter were under 60.)
Only about four in ten readers (39%) in our survey did their own estate planning, without an attorney’s help. Given the considerable cost savings—compared with what lawyers charge to prepare estate planning documents —you may wonder why more people don’t choose this option. There are good reasons, however.