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September 6, 2022

Lawyer

Probate Lawyer: What Is He, And How Does He Help You?

Wise people rightly said, so did you come alone? What would you take? It means that you were barehanded when you came into this world. Also, you are leaving this world with nothing in your hands. So everything you had and earned will remain on the earth. And all these things need to be handled by someone. The items you had or something you have made is called an estate. After your death, the estate has to be managed by someone. Mostly family does this. A probate lawyer helps you disburse your estate within your family, so there is no confusion.

What Is A Probate Lawyer?

A professional attorney that helps his client to learn his responsibility as an estate administrator is called a probate lawyer. He makes his clients understand the probate process and their role as future estate executors. People confuse the concept of probate attorney with estate planning lawyer. To be clear, both are related to the same sector, but their roles are slightly different.

The Difference Between A Probate And Estate Planning Lawyer

The probate attorney is the one that handles estate administration after the person’s death. On the other hand, the estate planning lawyer comes into the picture when his client is alive. He helps the client draft his wills and plan his inheritance. He helps the family to cut the inheritance taxes.

What Does He Do?

A probate lawyer provides you with a broad range of services. He mends his ways of working according to the client’s needs. With his experience, he helps to execute the complicated reels. In case you need to go to court, he also represents your case.

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If The Dead Has Signed The Valid Will

The probate lawyer can help you in situations, the one when the deceased has signed the will and the other one when the dead has not will.

 In both situations, the responsibility of the probate attorney varies.

In case the deceased has signed the will, the probate attorneys must complete the paperwork and hand over the estate to the actual administrator. It is also the responsibility of the attorney to represent the client in probate court over an aggressive will signing litigation. The lawyer can represent the administrator in court if he is accused of forcing the dead to mark the will when alive.

If The Dead Has Signed, None Will

The probate attorney works on valid wills but can help you if the person died and did not sign any will when he was alive. Generally, in this case, the spouse becomes half or the complete administrator of the entire estate. The spouse will get the entire property or not, depending on the state’s intestate laws, which are very complicated.

If the deceased has not signed any property will, the probate lawyer and estate planning lawyer must distribute the property per the laws.

Suppose their loved one wants to become the new estate administrator. In that case, he has to undergo a certain process. The probate lawyer ensures that all the legal papers are correctly submitted to the probate court.

What Are The Services Provided By The Probate Lawyer?

Whenever you hire a probate attorney, he and his staff are responsible for giving legal advice only to the estate administrator. Here are some services that a probate lawyer provides:

  • Find inventory and earnings of the deceased.
  • work on life insurance policies
  • to ensure appraisals for the deceased over deceased assets
  • Manage estate paperwork
  • Work with an in-house accountant to manage all the tax work
  • determining and advising about the current debt payment
  • do all the paperwork required in the probate court

To manage all these responsibilities, you should hire a local probate lawyer so that he is accessible whenever you need him the most.

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How Do You Know If The Probate Lawyer Fits You?

It is not that everyone needs a probate lawyer. We can resolve some simple cases by visiting the local probate court only. Now that you have realized that you need a probate attorney, you should ask the following questions to him:

  • Whether he has handled and case like yours in his career
  • how much experience he has
  • What are the different services he and his staff provide
  • How will he charge you
  • explain the entire process

What Are The Charges Of A Probate Lawyer?

The charges of the probate lawyer differ according to his work. Along with it, you should know that he can charge you in three methods:

The first is an hourly charge, and the second is a flat fee for your case. The third one is the lawyer can charge some percentage of the estate. It will be wise if you talk about fees in advance only.

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