Nobody wants to end up in probate court. You already lost a loved one. The last thing you want is to end up fighting over their final wishes. Yet, you won’t have to worry about issues surrounding probate when you partner with our team. When you hire a Sebastian probate lawyer from Lulich & Attorneys, we can validate your loved one’s will and handle any issues.
We can assist in executing the estate, ensuring you follow all necessary rules and have the resources needed to navigate this process correctly. Contact Lulich & Attorneys today to discuss your options based on your family’s unique needs. The probate process can be complex, frustrating, and stressful to handle on your own. Give yourself the time you need to relax by partnering with our team.
Our Sebastian Probate Lawyers Can Help With Your Case
At Lulich & Attorneys, our team aims to help our clients during their most difficult days. We understand how hard it is to think about legal processes and financial decisions when you have just lost a beloved family member. This is why our estate lawyers represent families and individuals in probating wills and handling other related concerns.
We have two offices, including one on Main Street in Sebastian. Our team serves Sebastian and the surrounding area from this office, just a short drive from the county courthouse where area probate cases go before judges. We know the resources in Sebastian available to help our clients get the best possible outcomes.
Our team provides initial consultations that allow you to better understand our knowledge and services. We also review the probate process and explain your options. In some cases, you might not have to go to court and probate the will. In others, we help the personal representative get court approval and navigate the process alongside them, offering advice, guidance, and support.
Understanding How Our Team Assists Clients With Probate in Sebastian
Probate is the process of cataloging and distributing someone’s assets after their passing. This includes paying debts and forwarding money and property to the heirs. This is a judicial process and often requires the approval of the local civil court. When someone dies, a personal representative—sometimes called an executor—steps up to notify the decedent’s creditors, heirs, beneficiaries, and other parties of their passing.
They then need to navigate many steps to ensure the assets included in the will or estate plan get distributed properly. We can help the personal representative manage this process or oversee it on their behalf.
Sometimes, there are disputes about the validity of the will, its interpretation, or the identity of the personal representative. Our attorneys can help in these situations, as well. We fight for our client’s reputation and to show the validity of the will in question, representing their interests in probate court and other appearances as needed.
What if My Loved One Passes Away Without a Will?
When someone passes away without a will or an estate plan in Sebastian, state law provides certain rules for handling their debts and assets. This is known as dying “intestate.” When this occurs, the laws set the rules for distribution regardless of other case facts. Understanding these laws and managing these assets correctly is essential to avoid legal trouble and disputes.
A Sebastian probate lawyer from our team can help you understand the applicable laws and properly administer the estate. This includes identifying the assets and explaining how the intestate laws require you to distribute the money and property your loved one held at their time of death.
Many people feel like their hands are tied when it comes to managing intestate assets— and they are. But our team can provide guidance and information that ensures you make the best choices and navigate the process according to the required rules.
Our Probate Lawyers Help Sebastian Personal Representatives Handle Their Duties
When you serve as the personal representative of a loved one’s estate, it can often seem like an all-consuming, full-time job. You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders. Many people are unsure of what this entails until they run into problems.
Our probate attorneys help Sebastian personal representatives navigate the process, providing guidance, resources, and assistance with tasks that include:
- Getting official approval to begin the probate process, usually through a certificate of appointment from the probate court
- Inventorying the assets and debts
- Opening an account to collect assets and pay any debts if necessary
- Identifying and contacting heirs and beneficiaries
- Notifying any lenders or creditors of the death
- Managing the transfer of their home or sale of the property
- Handling the distribution of all personal property
- Covering funeral and burial or cremation costs
- Preparing and paying any necessary taxes
- Maintaining records of all financial transactions
- Getting court approval for the distribution of assets
- Distributing the remaining assets to heirs as described by the will or intestate laws
Our Lawyers Combat the Challenges That Come With Probate Cases
Some of these cases become complicated because of certain issues. Our team is here to represent your best interests, uphold your loved one’s final wishes, and resolve these concerns as quickly as possible.
We can address:
- Claims from creditors, which could include litigation against the estate
- Challenges about your management of the estate’s assets
- Difficulty estimating the value of unusual assets or collections
- Issues regarding the personal representative
- Problems with the will’s validity
- Dispute over property ownership
Here’s a challenge our team frequently runs into. Keep in mind that this is a hypothetical scenario and may not reflect your own circumstances. A client comes to us after their loved one passes away. The decedent had a prized guitar collection. The client doesn’t know anything about the collection’s value—except that it’s likely valuable.
They need to determine the value of these items before selling them. That way, they can avoid disputes with heirs and other beneficiaries. Here, our team would call in appraisers familiar with guitar collections to put a price on each instrument or the collection itself. This way, our client can sell these items and not worry about certain challenges arising.
The example above is just one of the many things we help probate claimants with every day. You can learn more about our team’s dedication to your case when you connect with us.
When to Contact a Sebastian Probate Lawyer From Lulich & Attorneys
There are many times when you might want to contact our team about your Sebastian estate plan or while probating a loved one’s estate. Our team can provide assistance immediately after your loved one’s passing, while preparing to go to court, during the probate process, or when a claimant makes demands against the estate.
Our attorneys are ready to go to work on your case at any time.
Give us a call when:
- You want to help your family avoid probate after your death.
- You wish to preserve assets for a family member after you pass away.
- You need to probate a loved one’s will.
- You are the personal representative of a loved one’s will.
- There are challenges to the court naming you the personal representative.
- You face other claims against a will you are probating.
Our probate lawyers step in and help in any of these circumstances. While most people execute simple wills without problems, the process is still overwhelming and time-consuming. When the estate plan is more complex, or problems arise, the stress and frustration grow. This is the last thing most people want to face when dealing with their loved one’s final expenses and managing their estate.
We Pride Ourselves on Our Tireless Advocacy in Sebastian
We have a long history of helping families at different points of the probate process. We can help validate your loved one’s will, navigate the process for appointing a personal representative, address any challenges against the estate, and even represent you in litigation if necessary.
We are strong advocates for our clients during the probate process, from start to finish. Our lawyers ensure the process goes smoothly, providing the level of services each client requires. We understand how hard this can be, both mentally and emotionally. Even finding the time to handle the many required steps is often difficult! Let us help.
A Sebastian Probate Attorney From Our Team Can Help Families Avoid Probate
With pre-planning, it is often possible to avoid probate entirely. Our Sebastian probate lawyers help clients organize their estates so that probate might be unnecessary after their passing. You only need to probate a will when there are unassigned assets. By taking certain steps before your passing, it is possible to help your loved ones avoid this process later.
We can help you avoid probate by:
Naming Beneficiaries
Many accounts allow you to name a beneficiary or add another person to them. This designates who can receive certain items and who has access to them. These accounts can include checking and savings accounts, IRAs, annuities, and other retirement accounts.
The probate lawyers from Lulich & Attorneys can help you identify which accounts allow beneficiaries and how to name one. It usually requires a signature and contact information for the beneficiary on official documents provided by the bank, insurer, or financial institution.
Titling Assets When Possible
Many assets, such as physical property, can avoid probate by putting two parties on the title. For example, when a husband and wife are both on the title of their home, the wife assumes the full title of the home when her husband dies. This is also possible with a parent and child, even if the child does not reside in the home.
There are also options for bank accounts and other financial assets held by institutions. While they may not name beneficiaries, putting the other party’s name on the account is possible. This creates a “right of survivorship.” With someone else assuming ownership of the assets, there is no reason to probate the asset.
Our team can help you identify assets that should have a joint title or places where you can add a loved one to your account.
Establishing Trusts
Assets held in a trust do not go through an estate, meaning there is no need to probate them. In some cases, establishing a trust is the best option to ensure money or other assets remain earmarked for the beneficiary. This is very important if you need to ensure a dependent family member has money to support their care, for example.
When creating a trust, you choose how much to put in it and assign a trustee to manage it. You set the rules for when to pay out and how to handle requests for money from the trust. It is also possible to create a trust to make grants or otherwise fund favorite charities.
Our team can offer advice and guidance about when to use a trust and the pros and cons. We can also create the legal documents necessary to create and oversee the trust.
Creating a Plan for Your Business
If you own a business, you also need a plan for who will assume control or manage it after your passing. This is often obvious in a partnership, but you must still have the proper paperwork in place. You should consider what to do if you operate a sole proprietorship, too.
We can help you ensure you have the right agreements and documents to protect your investments, interests, and business operations if you pass away. With the right agreements, you can successfully transfer your business interests without the involved parties going through probate.
Discuss Your Sebastian Probate Case With Our Team Today
At Lulich & Attorneys, our Sebastian probate lawyers can help you better understand your options and case during your initial consultation. We provide these conversations for potential clients so that they can better understand our services and how we help them through this difficult process. We can help your family avoid probate by pre-planning before your death or navigating the process after losing a loved one.
Contact us by calling (772) 492-4611 today. We are here to help.