The death of a family member is always a stressful time. You are already mourning the death of a loved one, and supporting other family members. Do you need the headache of administering the estate as well?
Let our team handle your uncontested estate administration
It is common and normal to feel lost or confused. After all, you have likely never had to administer an estate before. We understand your confusion. If you have been named as executor, then your family is looking to you to handle the estate. We understand the pressure you may be feeling.
Our team of experienced estate administration professionals will be with you through every step of the process, from offering you advice to handling the entire estate administration.
You do not have to handle this alone.
Our team of experienced estate administration professionals will be with you through every step of the process, from offering you advice to handling the entire estate administration.
Common Estate Administration Questions
We have been working with executors and families for 25 years. These are some of the most common questions we run into:
1. You want to honor the deceased’s wishes. You want to make sure that you honor the final wishes of your deceased family member. You may be unsure how to carry these wishes out, though. Sometimes the last wishes were written down in the form of a will. However, sometimes the last wishes could have been spoken to family members shortly before death. In some situations your loved one may have written notes about things that were important to them, but they did not include them in a will. We can help you navigate through your duties as an executor or administrator, and to incorporate final wishes that may not have been memorialized in a formal manner.
2. As an executor or administrator, you have legal obligations to meet. You are honored that your loved one believed in you enough to trust you with their final wishes. What you may not have realized was that your loved one’s trust also comes with obligations and duties. Administration of an estate in Georgia is a multi-step process, and the things that must be done at each step can be unclear or confusing. All you want to do is administer the estate while avoiding a conflict with creditors and family members that can wind up as a probate litigation matter. We will be with you at every step to keep the process as smooth as possible.
3. Family. Family. FAMILY! Family is an amazing source of strength and support. An unfortunate reality is that sometimes family relationships can become strained when the administration of an estate is at issue. As an executor or administrator, you may have to make decisions that are required by law, and these decisions may not be popular among family members. Some family members may already be hurt that they were not named as the executor, or they may feel that more or different items should have been left to them. While your loved one was alive, these issues may have never surfaced – but during the administration of the estate they begin to bubble to the surface. It is our job to help you negotiate these conflicting interests. Our experience allows us to help explain and defend the decisions that you have to make, while not allowing the administration to be delayed unnecessarily. We will help you show your family that the process is being carried out consistent with the law, in a fair manner, and while taking into account the concerns of your family members. We know that you want to maintain important family relationships, and that you want your family to emerge from the administrator even stronger than it was before.
4. You want to maximize the value of the estate. Once the process of settling the estate has started, there will often be discussions of how to maximize the sale of property that must be sold, and how to reduce the amount of creditor claims to make sure that the family receives as much as possible from the estate.
5. You want to understanding the process. So many questions come with the administration of an estate. How long will the whole process take? What is involved? How much time will I have to devote to it? How much will it cost? Will I have to go to court? There is much information on the internet that is dated or inaccurate. Some of that information is based on the poster’s unique experience, which may not apply in your case. We can answer the questions that are unique to your situation, and make sure you do not take steps based on the thoughts of unqualified opinions.