When your loved one passes away and has a will in place, you might think that handling their estate should be a straightforward process. Even if probate proceedings are necessary, you may not expect any complications. However, while many probate proceedings do go smoothly, some do not. Various challenges may arise during probate proceedings, including challenges to the will by family members, significant delays in distributing the estate proceeds, and high expenses that diminish the estate’s value. A probate attorney at Kramer, Green, Zuckerman, Greene & Buchsbaum, P.A., can be invaluable in helping you through these challenges and determining the best strategies to handle them as they develop.
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Will Challenges
Even if your loved one has a will in place before their death, another family member or interested party may attempt to challenge the will. A family member or other interested party who is dissatisfied with the terms of the will may take steps to try and invalidate the will on various grounds, such as:
- The invalidity of the will due to lack of proper execution of the will under Florida law;
- Undue influence on the deceased at the time they made the will;
- Lack of mental capacity of the deceased at the time they made the will;
- Will executed through fraud, duress, or mistake; or
- Will revoked or superseded by another will.
Will contests can be expensive and result in substantial delays in an already lengthy probate process. They also can further strain relations between siblings or other relatives. As a result, individuals should engage in careful estate planning well before their deaths with the assistance of an estate planning attorney to ensure that their wills are valid under Florida law and not susceptible to will contests.
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Length of the Probate Process
While a will is an essential and basic part of any estate plan, a will alone is often not the only estate planning step that a person should take. Rather, a will is only one building block in a much larger comprehensive estate plan. Otherwise, if a deceased person’s assets are part of the probate estate, the heirs cannot receive their inheritances until the probate process is complete. As a result, heirs typically must wait several months for the probate process to finish before they can receive their inheritances, even under the best possible circumstances.
For example, creditors typically have three months to file claims against the estate after notice of the administration of the will is published in the newspaper. If the decedent leaves many debts, it can take some time to determine the validity of these debts and determine their disposition.
In many cases, a probate attorney may be able to wrap up a probate case in six months or less, but in some cases, it may take as long as nine months, 12 months, or more, depending on the circumstances. Therefore, in more complex cases, heirs could go at least six months and even more than a year without receiving their inheritance.
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Costs and Expenses Involved in Probate
Depending on the complexity of the estate, probate proceedings can be quite expensive. These expenses decrease the inheritance each heir receives from the estate. Some of the expenses that the estate must bear include:
- Debts owed by the decedent;
- Costs of appraisals of probate property;
- Costs of realtors, accountants, tax preparers, and other professionals that the estate must employ;
- Attorney’s fees; and
- Court costs.
Contact Kramer Green for All Your Probate and Estate Planning Needs
When a loved one passes away, a Pembroke Pines probate lawyer at Kramer Green can help you navigate the complex process of settling their affairs and probating their estate. We are here to answer your questions, address your concerns, and handle your loved one’s estate from beginning to end as efficiently as possible.
Contact our office today by calling (954) 884-8373 or visiting us online. Let us take some of the burden from you during this difficult time while you focus on your family. Together, we can complete the tasks necessary to settle your loved one’s affairs.