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Wills Trusts &
Estate
Unfortunately, death is inevitable. When someone dies, there may
be significant and substantial legal ramifications if there is
any property left behind by the decedent. Most of the lawsuits
and other complex problems arise in situations where the
decedent has not left a valid Will. Dying without a Will may
result in an estate being distributed differently than the
individual would have wanted. For example, most people don’t
realize that a surviving spouse may only get one-third of the
estate with the balance being divided among children, or the
heirs of deceased children.
Everyone
should have a Will and/or Trust. A proper Will will distribute according to
the wishes of the individual, can set up contingencies for
potential events, establish trusts for minors, coordinate life
insurance proceeds into trusts, and can be designed to avoid
and/or reduce federal estate taxation which can be very
substantial in estates over $700,000.00.
Our firm
can provide several attorneys to assist you in preparing an
appropriate Will and/or Trust and, where necessary, in the case of large
potential estates, assist in bringing in estate planning
specialists for tax avoidance.
Following
the death of an individual, whether leaving a Will or not, an
estate may need to be set up through the court system if there
is property to be distributed. Depending upon the amount of
property, a Large or Small Estate process may be required.
Decisions need to be made regarding who will administer the
estate if not named in the Will. Courts have various forms that
need to be filed and assets of the decedent need to be accounted
for, debts to the decedent need to be collected and liabilities
of the decedent need to be paid. Often real estate and personal
property need to be sold. A full and detailed accounting has to
be filed with the appropriate court. The attorneys in our firm
can perform all of these functions for the heirs of the estate.
From time
to time, an estate may get involved in a lawsuit. Among other
lawsuits, our firm has successfully represented disinherited
children in a claim against the estate for proper inheritance
based upon the inability of the decedent to understand what he
was doing when he signed a Will giving everything he owned to a
charitable organization. We have also represented estates where
the decedent was killed and the estate sought damages which
caused the decedent’s death.
For any
matter involving the preparation of a Will, changes to an
existing Will, establishment of a trust, claims against an
estate, or other situations involving decedents, you will find
our attorneys to be helpful and skillful in advising you and in
performing legal activities including litigation should that be
necessary.
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