Probate lawyers provide assistance throughout the entirety of the probate process. It is important when you are creating your estate plan to take steps to try to ensure that this process goes as smoothly as it can for your loved ones. The process can be both time consuming and expensive. If problems arise, probate will become even more difficult for your family and friends after you have passed on. There are many different steps you can take to try to make probate go more smoothly, and an experienced attorney at Parman & Easterday can help you create an estate plan that ensures this complicated process goes as smoothly as possible for your loved ones.
One of the key things that you want to ensure when you create your estate plan is that you make it very clear to your friends and family where your assets are located so your money and property can be easily found after you pass on. If you do not make the right plans in advance and specify exactly where your assets are life will become much more difficult for your loved ones and the value of the inheritance that you leave for heirs or beneficiaries could be significantly reduced.
Why It Is Important For Your Family To Know Where Your Assets Are
After you pass on, the executor of an estate – now called a personal representative in many states – that you named in your last will is appointed by the court to usher your estate through the probate process. The executor of an estate has a fiduciary duty to manage the affairs of the estate in an appropriate manner. Your goal should be to make the executor’s job as easy and efficient as possible.
A big part of the job of the executor of the estate is to make sure that a complete accounting of estate assets is made. When an executor is identifying the assets in the probate estate, you do not want there to be any assets that the executor is unaware of. If you have accounts or property that you own which none of your family members know about, the assets that should be passed on to your heirs or beneficiaries may go unclaimed. This will result in a reduced inheritance and some of your hard-earned wealth will not be passed on to the people you love or the causes you care about.
If the executor of an estate is unable to identify your assets this can also create problems for your heirs or beneficiaries. Your loved ones may be left trying to find assets because you have not made the location of those assets clear. We have experienced instances that required us to hire a private investigator or a forensic accountant to track down assets. Hiring any professional to go hunting for missing assets will increase the costs of the probate process and reduce the value of your estate that should otherwise be passed on as part of your legacy.
Getting Help From Probate Lawyers
Probate lawyers at Parman & Easterday can provide invaluable advice to clients during the estate planning process so clients can make smart choices about how to expedite the probate process. One way is to be sure their assets are easy for family members and your executor to find. You do not want your loved ones to be forced to pay for costly investigative services to find your wealth and you do not want to do anything that will increase the costs associated with the probate process. Making sure your assets can easily be found is one key way to maximize the chances that probate will go smoothly and that heirs or beneficiaries will inherit assets as quickly as possible so new owners can take possession. Our legal team can help.
Parman & Easterday can also provide assistance to families who are going through the probate process and who need assistance and advice on finding missing assets.
To find out more about how Parman & Easterday can help with the estate planning process and with the steps you need to take to provide for your loved ones after you are gone, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call today at (405) 843-6100 or contact us online to get personalized help with estate planning, or with going through probate after your loved one has passed on.
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