When a loved one dies without a will, you and your family may be left to figure out what to do with their estate. You may find yourself confronted with a variety of legal and financial challenges that you are unsure of and not equipped to figure out on your own.
To handle these issues sufficiently, you can hire an attorney to take them to court and ask a judge to resolve them for you. You can use your state's probate law to your family's advantage to settle the estate effectively.
Warding Off Unlawful Creditors
Despite your loved one dying, they may still owe creditors money. They might have an outstanding credit card bill and medical bills that the creditors want to have paid immediately.
However, the probate law where you live may prohibit certain creditors from laying claim to a deceased person's estate. When you have a lawyer take your loved one's estate to court, you can fend off unlawful creditors and prevent them from claiming any of your relative's assets or wealth.
Appraising the Estate
The probate law attorney that represents you and your family can also have the court appraise the estate's value so you know how much it is worth and to what percentage each heir is entitled. You may have no idea of what certain assets, such as antiques or coin collections, are worth. You do not want to undervalue them if you plan on selling them and splitting the cash from them.
The probate law where you live may cover having estates appraised in court. You can then determine the amount of money that each lawful heir is entitled to and for what amount of money that you can liquidate assets that you do not want to keep.
Identifying Lawful Heirs
Finally, probate law can cover identifying lawful heirs to an estate. Without a will, your loved one may have left their estate open to being claimed by anyone. Rather than head off against these claimants alone, you can use your state's probate law to identify what heirs have legal claims to the estate and what people are trying to take advantage of you and your family.
Probate law serves a number of important purposes for families trying to settle estates. It can ward off creditors from laying claim to an estate. It can also appraise the estate and identify legal heirs to it. Contact a probate law attorney near you to learn more.
