Estate planning is a clever strategy to avoid family arguments over your fortune. It guarantees that the assets you fought so hard to accumulate throughout your life go to the people you choose.
Estate planning is often thought of as something families do, but even those who are young or single can plan their estate. If you own property, such as a house, a car, stocks, or accounts, estate planning is essential. You can hire an estate planning attorney to help with all your estate planning matters.
Why You Need a Probate Attorney
You need a probate lawyer to help plan who gets to keep your assets and other property. Although it is technically possible for anyone to prepare their own documentation, working with a trusted estate planning lawyer from Hammond Law Group PC can save you and your family members time and money. Wills and trusts can be quite complex documents, and any omission or incorrect wording can only result in difficulties and hiccups in the probate procedure down the line. A well-thought-out estate plan can help your family avoid the probate process altogether after you’re gone.
Why You Need a Will
Do you have a life partner to whom you are not married? Do you want to leave a portion of your possessions to someone you are not related to by blood? You’ll need to create an estate plan if you want your partner or someone else who is not related by blood to inherit some of your possessions or assets. A Colorado Springs probate lawyer can help make sense of intestate laws and help ensure your assets go to the people of your choosing.
Colorado Springs Probate Lawyer for Small Estates
It can be challenging to determine whether you can transfer property using a streamlined informal approach. Do any of your assets have designated beneficiaries? This is one approach to determine if you can use a streamlined process to transfer property. In other words, was the asset designated to be given to a specific person or group of persons by the decedent when they were alive?
For instance, a named beneficiary on a life insurance policy would automatically get the proceeds. The surviving spouse would receive any joint real estate holdings. When you schedule a consultation with Hammond Law Group PC estate planning attorneys, they can help you prepare a list of all of your assets and simply the probate process for you and your family.
Probate Law Process in Colorado Springs, Colorado
The duration of the probate court process might range from nine months to two years for uncontested probate. When the family is at odds, some probate trials might go on for five to seven years. There are so many reasons the legal process goes on for so long. Here are a few:
- Every state mandates that a Notice to Creditors be mailed to every reasonably determinable creditor in addition to being published in the newspaper.
- The estate’s personal representative must deliver an accounting to each beneficiary.
- Naturally, a larger estate will take longer to administer than a small one.
- Obstinate beneficiaries can cause the probate process to take longer
We have seen it all in our time as probate lawyers, so we can help guide you through the entire probate process.
Hire an Experienced Colorado Springs Probate Lawyer
We know that estate planning can be a sensitive topic. It can be difficult to think about what life will look like for your loved ones when you’re not here. Fortunately, the experienced probate attorneys at Hammond Law Group PC are skilled and tactful in the estate planning process. Together, we can help with all your estate planning needs so that you can build an estate plan designed specifically for you and your family. Contact us today for an estate planning consultation.
