Probate will causes families to argue
I work as a paralegal for a probate attorney and I get a front row seat at a lot of family feuds and arguments. When the last parent dies things can get very primal as many of the children try to take the leadership position in the family. When the probate will process starts usually the family doesn’t squabble too much but as time goes by, the beneficiaries of the estate want to get paid.
It not as much greed as it is impatience. It is only human that people get frustrated with all the will probate procedures. It’s a tremendous amount of paperwork and time consuming clerical duties. Usually, it takes about six months before the family goes after the executor of the estate and pressures them to make an early distribution of assets.
This can be a troubling circumstance for the executor if they haven’t planned out all of the expenses such as taxes and attorney fees. I have seen situations when a intimidated estate executor distributes too much to beneficiaries and when they realize that there are additional expenses they have to reach into their own pockets. That is why the process takes so long and the probate will ordeal is so complicated.
When my own father passed away everyone in my family expected me to be the executor of his estate. But after seeing so many families go through the “meat grinder” of the estate settlement process I decided to hire my boss who has been an estate and probate lawyer for over 20 years. I thought it was better to save my family relationships than a try to save a few bucks “doing it myself”.
