There are several organizations for lawyers who write wills. One example is the American Association of Estate Planning Attorneys. Membership in an organization shows that the lawyer keeps up with the recent changes in the law. Contact information. Lawyer should provide phone numbers and an email address.
The internet is a useful tool for finding an estate attorney, but it shouldn't be your only source. You can get referrals from family and friends or check with your state and local bar associations, since an attorney must pass the bar exam to practice in your area. Laws can vary significantly from one state to the next.
Ask employees at the records clerk's office how to locate and access the file. Once you have the file, search it for the name of any lawyer or law firm that is listed as attorney of record for the deceased. Copy this information.
Use FindLaw to hire a local wills lawyer to prepare a will tailored to your circumstances like living wills -- also known as an advance directive or medical power of attorney -- last will and testaments, and joint or reciprocal wills.
"In fact, more than half of Americans age 55 to 64 don't have a will in place ...
Some attorneys offer a free consultation; others don't. Some offer a free consultation for a set amount of time, such as the first hour, and begin charging after that. Find out what each attorney’s policy is before the first meeting. Fee structures for drafting an estate plan can vary as well.
Go to the county courthouse in the county where the deceased person lived. Search the civil litigation, family law and criminal court records by party name to see whether any records contain the deceased person's name.
Get out all the signed legal documents that were found among the deceased's property and look for any signatures that were notarized. Go to the county assessor's office in the county where the deceased person owned real property and search for notarized deed records.
Talk to friends and neighbors who knew the deceased well. Ask them if they know about events in the deceased's life that would have required legal representation, like an arrest or a lawsuit. Follow up on any leads.
In order to officially receive Letters Testamentary and become the executor, a probate petition would need to be filed at the Surrogate's Court. If you were named as co-Executor under the will, you would have to be noticed. If your mother is being difficult, you may consider sending her a certified letter 1) stating that you know that you were named as a fiduciary of the estate 2) demanding that she provide a copy...
If your mother's lawyer filed the probate petition with the surrogate's#N#court (in the county where your grandmother lived), the lawyer's name and#N#info will be on it. In order for your mother to have authority to act on#N#behalf of the estate, the petition has to be filed and approved by the#N#court. If you were named as co-executor in the will, your mother should not...
If the will names you as executor or co-executor, it can't properly be probated without your involvement. To determine whether the will has been probated, you can contact the Surrogate's Court. If your mother is holding a will on which you are named executor, you may need to bring a court claim, which would be in Surrogate's Court.
An estate lawyer is trained in matters related to passing on your assets after you die, and planning for situations where you can no longer care for yourself. They are experts in wills, trusts, and your local probate process. Some estate lawyers may also have specialties, like planning the succession of a business.
To leave assets to a stepchild, stepparent, or half-sibling, consider working with an estate lawyer. Most people could benefit from working with an estate planning attorney, but it may not be necessary (and you may not want to pay for it) in many situations. On the other hand, people in certain situations may need the help ...
This only happens if you aren’t survived by a spouse or child, but a solid estate plan will protect your assets and allow you to pass on as much of your estate as possible. If this is your situation, you may want to look for an estate lawyer who specializes in elder law. You want to set up an irrevocable trust .
You have out-of-state property or assets . Passing on assets can get tricky if they’re crossing state boundaries, since two states may have different tax codes or other legal requirements for how to transfer an asset.
You have foreign property or assets . You’re planning to bequeath assets to someone who isn’t a citizen . You could also run into issues if you plan to name an executor who isn't a legal U.S. resident. Certain tasks, like getting a tax ID to open an estate account, may not be possible for nonresidents.
When a relative or someone close to you dies, you may need to find a good probate or estate administration lawyer to help you wrap up that person’s estate. The job of hiring a lawyer may fall to you if: you believe that the existing executor or probate attorney isn’t doing a good job.
Transactional probate attorneys handle the administrative side of probates, and probate litigators represent clients in probate lawsuits. Some lawyers do both, but most of them tend to specialize in one area or the other.
the will did not name an executor. the named executor is dead or otherwise unavailable, or. you believe that the existing executor or probate attorney isn’t doing a good job. Use your common sense and gut instincts to evaluate the lawyers on your list. What Is a Probate Lawyer?
A trusts and estates attorney can help you: make a plan for what will happen your property when you die ( wills and trusts) avoid probate (living trusts, transfer-on-death tools, beneficiary designations) reduce estate taxes. plan for incapacity (powers of attorney and living wills) set up trusts for loved ones. manage ongoing trusts.
At a minimum, you should expect to be treated courteously and professionally both by the staff and by the lawyer.
For example, if you're going to rewrite your will and your spouse is ill, the estate planner needs to know about how Medicaid will affect your estate plan. Unfortunately, there are some attorneys who hold themselves out as experts in trusts and estates, but who have little or no experience in this area of practice.
Not every state certifies specialists in trusts and estates, or estate planning, but if your state does, selecting a lawyer with this certification provides an added assurance that he or she is qualified. (A certified specialist may charge more than someone without a certification.)
Simple wills, trusts, and powers of attorney don’t have to be made by attorneys. And with good self-help products, you can either make your own documents or learn more about the documents that an attorney will make for you.
After all experience does not necessarily make a good lawyer, and a newer attorney may very well become a great attorney. However, less experienced attorneys should also know when they are in over their heads, so make sure that any less experienced lawyer you hire has a more experienced attorney to consult, if needed.