If you’ve already determined that there are assets that will need to go through probate court to be transferred, donated, or distributed, your next step will be to decide if you want to hire a lawyer to file probate on your estate’s behalf and/or represent the estate in court on your behalf. If you have not determined whether you need to go to probate court, read: How Do I Know if I Need to File Probate?
The following unique circumstances are typically when an estate attorney is hired:
- There are issues among family members/heirs, especially regarding the validity of the will and/or how assets are distributed, and you think they may bring the dispute to court
- The estate has unusual/rare assets (e.g. LLC’s, Partnerships, rare antiquities) that need experts to weigh in on valuation and how to transfer the assets to the intended beneficiaries/heirs
- There are more debts than estate assets (i.e. the estate is insolvent) and you need to determine which creditors to pay first with the estate assets
- There is a minor who needs a guardian appointed as a result of the death
- If you intend on filing or have already filed a wrongful death suit
- There are estate assets located/titled in different states, such as real estate or vehicles
- If you are filing for probate in a state other than your primary residence
Further, there are some states that require attorney representation based on the probate type that you are filing. Most states and counties have a summarized type of probate that can be filed, for Summary Probate or small estate probate, most people do not use a lawyer and simply file the court paperwork on their own. Additionally, if you are only wanting to file a will with the court and there are no assets that need court approval to get transferred/distributed, this can very easily be performed without a lawyer, as it typically only requires a few simple applications to be completed and filed in addition to the original will, with the court.
If you’ve determined that you have assets that need to go through Court Probate and your estate does not require a lawyer based on the example situations above, it is possible to probate a will and/or estate without a lawyer. To learn more about how to file for probate without a lawyer, read our post: How to File for Probate Without a Lawyer.
