Probate It Yourself
Every estate where either a will is
probated or an intestate administration is conducted (if
there is no will), has a number of steps which must be
performed by the executor or administrator to complete the
estate proceedings. That's true whether it's a $50,000. or a
$5,000,000. estate. The general overview of tasks is:
- to locate and liquidate the resources
- pay all just debts of the decedent,
including taxes if applicable
- and then to distribute the residuary to
the beneficiaries of the will or intestate estate.
McHugh and Macri have developed a
technique successfully utilized by their estate clients
for many years which significantly reduces the cost of
administering the estate, including legal fees. The secret
is that since many of the estate steps don't require
the specialized knowledge of an attorney, you can "do it
yourself", with our advice and guidance, without paying a %
of the estate value. If the estate needs tax returns or
has legal complexities, you engage the attorney only to
handle those steps and it's billed at an hourly rate,
instead of a % of the estate. Here's how it
works
- Contact McHugh and Macri before
seeking probate. Why? Many times we can show you how to
avoid the time and expense of probate altogether.
- McHugh and Macri will establish an in-office or
telephone estate conference with an attorney (not a para-legal) and will send you an estate
administration checklist to be completed for that
conference.
- At the estate conference, our
attorney will present and review with you a checklist of
the various issues which must be done to properly
administer the estate. You decide which steps you will
complete and whether the attorney needs to perform any steps.
- McHugh and Macri then establishes a meeting with the
county surrogate office for you alone to either probate
or administer the estate, if needed.
That's it! Simple, direct, and cost efficient. Our fee for
conducting the estate conference and arranging probate is
under $1,000
and then the client can administer the estate
based on the advice gained in that conference.
If you're interested,
contact our office and let us
know that you are
interested in a "probate it yourself" conference. |
