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Practice Areas

Probate & Estate Administration

Settling an estate after a loss, handled at whatever pace the family needs.

Probate arrives at the worst possible time. Someone has died, there are people to call and arrangements to make, and now there is also a legal process with deadlines nobody explained.

Our part is to take the process off your desk. We handle the filings and the steps, keep you informed in plain terms, and tell you well ahead of time about the few things only you can do.

There is no pace we need you to keep. Some families want it moving quickly, others need weeks before they can face a folder of paperwork. Both are fine, and we will say so.

What we handle

A person alone at a window in the late afternoon
  • Opening the estate and appointing a personal representative
  • Notifying heirs, beneficiaries and creditors
  • Inventory, valuation, and the required court filings
  • Handling debts and expenses in the right order
  • Distributing assets and closing the estate
  • Small-estate and summary procedures where they apply
  • Disputes between heirs, and will contests

How it usually goes

  • Call when you are readyBring what you have. A death certificate and a will if there is one, and if you do not have those yet, that is fine too.
  • We map the estateWhat has to go through probate, what passes outside it, and roughly how long the process will run.
  • We do the filingsThe petition, notices, inventory and accountings. You hear from us at each step in language that makes sense.
  • Close it properlyAssets distributed, the estate closed, and paperwork you can keep in case a question comes up years later.

Common questions

No. Property held jointly, accounts with a named beneficiary, and assets already in a trust generally pass outside probate entirely.

Sometimes a family arrives braced for months of court and leaves the first meeting learning that very little of the estate actually needs it. That is a good day for everyone.

Longer than most people expect, because the law builds in waiting periods for creditors and notices that cannot be shortened.

A straightforward estate with cooperative heirs moves steadily. Disputes, hard-to-value property, or an heir who cannot be located are what stretch it out, and we will flag those early.

A death certificate, the original will if there is one, and a rough sense of what the person owned and owed.

You do not need it organised. Bring the shoebox. Sorting it is part of what you are hiring us for.

The estate is still administered, just under the state's default rules for who inherits and who serves as personal representative.

It is a well-worn path. It usually means a little more court involvement and a little less flexibility, not chaos.

Practice Areas

Not sure this is the right page? Plenty of questions do not arrive with a label on them. Call and describe it in your own words, or read the questions we get asked most.

Not sure where to start? Let's talk it through

Tell us what is on your mind. If it is something we can help with, we will explain how.
If it is not, we will point you in the right direction. Either way you get a straight answer.

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