Legal Parties

Legal Professionals

Different attorneys play specialized roles in the probate process, each contributing their expertise to navigate estate administration and resolve disputes effectively. Remember that all serving parties, including the attorneys, realtors, inspectors, etc, are your employees; hire and fire at your will in the estate’s best interest.

Estate Planning Attorney

Function: Drafts wills, trusts, and other estate planning documents to outline the distribution of assets and individual wishes.
Probate Role: Minimizes disputes by ensuring clear, legally enforceable estate plans, potentially avoiding probate.

Financial Planning Attorney

Function: Focuses on the estate’s financial strategies, including tax implications and asset protection.
Probate Role: Advises on managing estate taxes and distributing assets efficiently.

Transactional Attorney

Function: This person handles the legal aspects of asset transfers within the estate, such as real estate or business ownership.
Probate Role: Ensures correct and efficient completion of all estate-related transactions.

Litigation Attorney (Probate Litigation Attorney)

Role: Probate litigation attorneys specialize in resolving disputes arising during probate. This can include will contests, disputes between heirs and beneficiaries, allegations of fiduciary misconduct, and other legal challenges related to estate administration.
Contribution to Probate: They represent clients in court, providing advocacy and strategic legal solutions to resolve conflicts. Their involvement is crucial for navigating the complexities of probate law, protecting clients’ rights, and ensuring that the estate is administered fairly according to the decedent’s wishes and applicable laws.

Collaboration Among Attorneys

The probate process often requires these attorneys to work together, ensuring a comprehensive approach to estate planning, financial management, transactional legality, and dispute resolution.

Choosing the Right Attorney

The estate’s specific needs dictate the choice of attorney, emphasizing the importance of selecting experienced professionals capable of addressing unique estate challenges.

Paralegals

A paraprofessional will assist in preparing all documents, pleadings, and hearings. So, they will also be aware of the deceased’s information and the status of the administration.

Associates

An associate or junior partner attorney will assist in preparing all documents, pleadings, and hearings. Therefore, they will also be aware of the deceased’s information and the status of the administration.

Pro-Per

A petitioner in Pro-Per is a brave person who appears before a court without a legal representative or lawyer. Sometimes, experienced and confident Personal Representatives take the attorney’s responsibility and undertake all Personal Representative duties. It is one way to control the probate process better and save money. These individuals know what they are doing and the consequences of any mistakes. To make their lives easier, they take the help of paralegals who help them.

Court Staff

These are the staff members you deal with, so the best thing to do is get along with them. They are under a lot of pressure and have deadlines, and they understand their position well.

Court clerks:

They are responsible for receiving filings, evaluating them, approving them, and organizing them into the file. Therefore, you can expect the clerk to review every document across their desk.

Case Managers

Clerk staff pass on the files to the case managers once the files are ready. It usually happens after a filing requesting the judge’s review and signature. They ensure the accuracy of notices and that the requests are correctly approved or denied.
Judicial Assistant (JA) – Every circuit court judge has a judicial assistant to assist with reviewing cases, documents, and pleadings. They will likely review the file and law on the subject to help the judge make an informed decision. JA is another set of eyes on the documents and a member of the estate party.
Judge – The judge has to review your file and pleadings and rule on each one. Most of the judges review their cases very carefully to evade conflicts. And in the context of probate, errors can substantially and adversely affect peoples’ rights and cause severe delays.