Ask Me Help Desk - Estate planning,how to limit litigation?

I got some junk mail,it was about estate planning and the Illinois drawn out legalities about litigation and how much time it could take to settle the estate,the amount of money expected to be allotted fr the settling,(somewhere like 3-8%)and the amount wasted in the legal system,numbering in the millions per year.

My question is,how do we keep this from becoming a legal fiasco when my parents pass on?In the last 6 months we have updated all wills,made sure the executor is legal and correct(and transfers to a second executor if the first is somehow made unable, etc)Who has power of attorney as well as medical power of atty.. etc.

We THINK we have dotted the I's and crossed the T's,but somehow there is a lingering thought that the state will supply us with a curve ball,something to keep this estate from being settled(It's all paid for,no leans,no rights to proprietorship... if that is even an item to be fought over)

Any ideas or advice would be welcomed.

KBC

Assuming you have posed this issue to your estate-planning attorney, you have done all you can do. There is no 100 % guarantee in life. Don't let the author of that junk mail cause you any lost sleep.

Thank you,fair enough:)

And as to the lawyer,Mother is one to see one eye to eye,father is one for Legal Zoom or the like to make things as 'cheep' as he can make them.

Mother's eye to eye is $500,fathers is something like $50?I really don't know his number,but it's a lot less than mothers and does the ?same? Thing..

Anyway,thanks again for the reassurance.. I hope not to find out the hard way the state has other plans for this property.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KBC

...

And as to the lawyer,Mother is one to see one eye to eye,father is one for Legal Zoom or the like to make things as 'cheep' as he can make them. ...

As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for". Neither LegalZoom, nor this site, provide "legal advice". As LegalZoom puts it,

"The information provided in this site is not legal advice, but general information on legal issues commonly encountered. LegalZoom is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. LegalZoom cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction."

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK lawyer

As the old saying goes, "you get what you pay for". Neither LegalZoom, nor this site, provide "legal advice". As LegalZoom puts it,

"The information provided in this site is not legal advice, but general information on legal issues commonly encountered. LegalZoom is not a law firm and is not a substitute for an attorney or law firm. LegalZoom cannot provide legal advice and can only provide self-help services at your specific direction."

:D Clearly this has been brought up on here before... ;)

Point taken.

Hello K:

I'm not a financial planner any more, but when I was, I would have recommend a living trust for your family. Living trusts pass to the heirs WITHOUT going through probate, which is where all the crap you described happens.

I wouldn't do it on the cheap, though. If you do, you open yourself up to the very stuff you want to avoid. A couple hundred $$'s now can save you thousands later.

excon

Or taking this one step further you could re-do the Deeds and make them Tenants in Common with Right of Survivorship. This bypasses the Probate Court as well.

Depends on just what type of assets your folks have now that they are thinking of passing on to you depends on just how you go about tap dancing away from the Probate Courts altogether. Remember, if a will is probated it must be done through a probate attorney and the attorney (by law) HAS to charge a certain pre-set fee for the handling of the estate based on the total amount of the estate. There is no haggling or fee reduction as this is all down in black and white for the judge to see and cannot be negotiated down AND the attorney's fees must be paid in full prior to the Judge even seeing the final paperwork (betcha didn't know that little wrinkle). Sounds nutty but true. When I worked for Probate Attorneys they made out like bandits (legally) due to the mandated legal fees imposed by the state. Some poor guy had to pay the attorney a small fortune just to legally inherit his mother's house that was not worth very much as she did not switch the deed around including him on it. Sad. He paid a certain percentage plus filing fees to the Probate Court when he could have paid zero and had the house after she died for almost nothing.

Please investigate the deed changes BEFORE they decide to depart this life. You'll be glad they did. They won't care as they won't be stuck with the consequences of their ill decision.

They can also change the titles to their autos by adding the other person's name and make it "OR" but not "AND". This way the title would read John Smith OR George Smith. This way both parties don't have to be present to then change the title into George's name should John die or vice versa. That way the autos don't go through probate either saving bookoo bucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

... Remember, if a will is probated it must be done thru a probate attorney and the attorney (by law) HAS to charge a certain pre-set fee for the handling of the estate based on the total amount of the estate. There is no haggling or fee reduction as this is all down in black and white for the judge to see and cannot be negotiated down AND the attorney's fees must be paid in full prior to the Judge even seeing the final paperwork (betcha didn't know that little wrinkle). ...

Please don't perpetuate this "urban legend" without citation. While it may have been true in your particular state at some particular time, it is by no means true everywhere. By-the-way, can you please tell me which state this is, so that I may verify it?