Legal Help When Buying and Selling Property

Family Member Pass Away? 2 Reasons To Contact A Probate Attorney

14 November 2018 by Louise Boyd

If you have a family member that has passed away, one thing that has to be done is distributing their property, as well as designating beneficiaries and how creditors will be paid. If the family member had a will, however, this is all taken care of. Without a will, you may need to contact a probate attorney like David R Webb Attorney. Below are two reasons why you may need this type of attorney, so you can get matters taken care of.

Family Conflicts

If your family is fighting about who gets the property, this can cause a lot of arguments and tension. If there is a lot of property your family may be torn apart. Before this happens, a probate attorney can help solve arguments.

If your family member was married twice and had children from both marriages, the children from your loved one's first marriage may feel they are not receiving their fair share of the property or estate. If there are brothers and sisters, they may be fighting at what share each of them receives. One child may feel they were closer to the family member, and there may be others that hardly ever visited the deceased family member.

As soon as you notice any type of conflict contact a probate attorney. They can prevent all of you from going to probate court. If family members do go to court this can be a long and expensive process for everyone involved.

Probate Court

Conflicts can lead to probate court, as well as other things. For example, your family member may have written a will but the instructions in the will may not be written clearly. In a case like this a probate court can help determine the will of your family member. After the court is finished, you may have one or more family members that do not agree with the court and decide to challenge it. In a case like this you need to have a probate attorney.

If the worth of your family member's estate is not large enough to cover all their debts this is known as insolvent. In a case like this, creditors can file claims. These creditors may also start contacting the beneficiaries or executor of the will to obtain the money. You need an attorney to handle the creditors for you, especially if there are a lot of them contacting you regularly.

Contact a probate attorney in your area to learn much more about how they can help you, so you can decide if you need their services.

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