Do I Need a Lawyer?
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Some estates will require a lawyer, but in most cases the decision is up to you.
General Background
In the old days, most people just went to a local probate lawyer and paid thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for help in getting the estate settled. A few intrepid souls would try to do it themselves, but it was a daunting task for people who didn't have experience with the process.
Nowadays, you have 4 basic choices: retain a local probate lawyer, hire a managed legal service, use estate settlement software (i.e., EstateExec), or try to do it completely by yourself. See Basic Approaches for details and tradeoffs.
When is a Lawyer Required?
Two states (IA, MS), and Cook County in IL, do require an attorney for probate court interactions ... unless a small estate settlement process will be used. Similarly, unless a small estate settlement process will be used, FL and TX require a lawyer to represent the executor if there are heirs other than the executor, or if there are creditors involved.
Note that even if a lawyer is required, you will still have plenty to do, and EstateExec can help you with those duties. You can even share access with your lawyer to make the process more efficient.
EstateExec Charter
EstateExec is primarily designed to help estate executors administer and ultimately wind down a decedent's estate, paying off debts and making distributions to heirs. While EstateExec online software will greatly assist you with your executor responsibilities, you should be aware that:
- EstateExec is a productivity aid, and does not provide legal or tax advice (see below for service options)
- EstateExec is not intended to provide exhaustive coverage for all possible situations, or even the most common ones
Perhaps a good analogy would be that of using Quicken® to manage your household budget: Quicken can provide a nice structure, track your inflows and outflows, and generate reports, but ultimately it's up to you to make sure that your budget is right for you and that you follow it (let alone ensuring that you are complying with all relevant financial regulations and obligations, such as homeowner's dues, pet licenses, etc.).
Recommendation
Consequently, we recommend that you engage an appropriate probate attorney to help you with the process. A probate attorney won't/can't do everything for you, but he or she can be an invaluable resource, and often has contacts that can ease the process for you. You almost certainly need a lawyer if the estate is very large, the will is particularly complex, or there will likely be litigation.
Nevertheless, since a probate attorney will likely cost thousands of dollars, a number of people do choose to do it themselves, especially for smaller estates.
If you do hire a probate attorney, you will still need to use EstateExec (for tracking assets, debts, distributions, and so forth), and in fact EstateExec can make the cooperation between you and your attorney easier and more transparent. To continue our analogy, just because you hire a financial adviser doesn't mean you stop using Quicken.
EstateExec Service Options
EstateExec has arranged for experienced attorneys to file probate cases for EstateExec customers in select locations; availability and cost depend on location of the estate. See Probate Service for details on this optional service; you are also welcome to use your own attorney, or none at all.
If you only want answers to a couple of specific legal questions, you can work with our partners to get quick legal answers affordably.
Whatever you decide, EstateExec will be very helpful throughout your executor process.