Reasons Why You May Want To Hire An Estate Administration Attorney

You may have been named the executor in your loved one's will, and you now feel completely overwhelmed in what to do. While some wills are pretty straightforward and clearly defined in what should happen to your loved one's property and other assets, others might be a bit more complicated. They could include a business, several houses and investment properties, and more.

While not all cases require taking the matter to court in probate, you might feel more comfortable consulting an estate administration attorney to help you with the overall process. Here are some reasons why you might want to hire an estate administration attorney.

Property Transference

In many cases, your loved one's property can be transferred to the beneficiary without probate, but this isn't always the case. Some property is more complicated to deal with than others, namely businesses, commercial property, and investment properties like rentals. There may also be a dispute about certain properties within the family about who should actually receive them. This can lead to lawsuits and probate court.

However, even if the property can be transferred without probate, you might feel the process is too complicated for you to deal with and you feel unsure of doing it yourself. An estate administration attorney can help you sort through any property transference to each beneficiary so you don't have to do it alone.

Knowledge Of Your State's Laws

While you don't have to have expert knowledge of your state's laws surrounding probate and the distribution of your loved one's property to the beneficiaries, it does help to keep the process simple and out of probate court. The laws are mostly straightforward but it can be a bit tricky when you are dealing with commercial assets and properties.

An estate administration attorney can help you deal with the legalities of distributing the assets to those your loved one wanted them to go to.

Your attorney already has expert knowledge of the law surrounding estate planning and distribution and can help you in the event someone contests the will at any point.

There Might Be Debts

While not all debt is payable by you or the beneficiaries, credit card debt is typically not the responsibility of a loved one's relatives or friends and is usually written off by credit card companies, there are other debts that might need to be paid off before assets can be transferred to the beneficiaries.

An estate administration attorney can help find out which debts need to be paid off and potentially negotiate a payment plan or a way to pay off the entire amount at a lower cost.  

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