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Areas of Practice

Estate Planning

Elder Law

Will & Trust

Probate

Guardianships

Family Law

Business Law

Real Estate



Contact Information:
William B.C. Pittenger
8595 Meadow Hill Drive
Frisco, TX 75034
972-335-9473
972-335-0073 (Fax)
e-mail




Probate is the process of handling an estate of a deceased person in a court, usually called the Probate Court. It is not always necessary to go through the Probate Court to transfer assets and gain title to property. However, this can be determined once we learn about the nature of the assets and liabilities.

If Probate is necessary, we usually try to go in the direction of having an Independent Executor so that their actions in handling the estate can be usually without court control. If there is a house involved, then some form of probate will be needed to pass the title.

We can assess the situation to determine which course of action to take as to having a process in the Probate Court or not. In Texas, probate is not particularly expensive. In other states, it can be very expensive.

TAX ISSUES
Beyond Probate, an estate may require other work in the tax area, if the estate is over the federal estate tax exemptions or unified credit. There is no estate tax for 2010. As of this writing, the unified credit for 2011 will be $1,000,000. The House of Representatives has agreed to this same figure and it is up to the Senate as whether they will agree.

Also there may be steps which have deadlines, such as a Qualified Disclaimer of assets, for tax purposes. Don't let 9 months go by from date of death without determining if a disclaimer will be needed, or you will be too late.

The length of Probate can be as little as 90 days in some cases and as much as 15 months or more in other cases, with an average being 6 months.

If there are disagreements, we prepare Family Settlement Agreements to work through the issues and have the parties sign and agree as to the resolutions.

After an initial conference, we can quote a range of legal fees and costs for probate based upon the projected work and any anticipated problems with beneficiaries, creditors or the IRS, which would change the time estimate.