When Executors Must Go to Court

Here are some tips if you are an executor.

Minor squabbles can take hours of your time away from your office. Court battles can add years to estate work as executor.  If you are a professional, this can actually take money from your pocket.

You should be doing work for which you are well-paid in the office.

You manage your work as an experienced advisor at what you do best.

Instead, as executor, you can end up spending hours with lawyers sorting through what you think is material evidence. You hope your lawyer has enough estate experience to help.

You May be Lucky

There may not be any legal disputes. You may not have to hire an estate lawyer to go to court.

But what happens if someone contests the estate and starts a lawsuit? You must hire a lawyer with estate court experience to:

• defend the will against claims from creditors;
• defend yourself from any mistakes you made handling the estate;
• sue to recover or collect estate assets

You can spend hours of non billable time on estate lawsuits.

Executor Tips

If you are an executor, call me for a consultation.

Read a sample from Executor Quick Start and use my 65-point checklist to prepare yourself. Get answers to the most frequently asked executor questions.

Will You Be an Executor?

Get a free guide called Executor Duties: What You Need to Know.