Probate and Trust Administration

Areas of Practice

About Probate and Trust Administration

While we work hard to help our clients create estate plans that avoid probate, not everyone can.  Those who die without a will or who die with a will but have not used certain non-probate transfers such as transfer on death or payable on death designations or similar beneficiary designations, may have to probate an estate.

Probate and Trust Administration

How We Work

Probate is the process where assets of an estate are distributed under the supervision of a court.  The process can be expensive and can take considerable time.  

For those who have established a living revocable trust, estate administration is generally simpler and considerably less expensive, provided that the maker of the trust transferred all or substantially all of their assets into the name of their trust.  

Trust administration is not without its own complexities, however.  Ensuring the successor trustee understands his or her role is essential to protecting the beneficiaries and the assets of the trust.  Knowing what notifications to make, gathering and valuing assets, managing those assets, and following the rules of the Trust can be time consuming and somewhat overwhelming.

Our trustee onboarding process can help successor trustees understand the roles and responsibilities as well as understand how we can work together to administer the estate as efficiently and quickly as possible.

If you are the executor or holder of the will or the successor trustee of a trust of someone who recently passed, we want to remind you that you are not alone – reach out to us at your earliest convenience.  Keep in mind that there are certain time limitations for some actions to be taken, so whether you call us or another firm, take action now and get legal help.