When probate issues threaten an estate, we can help

by | Mar 9, 2017 | Probate Litigation |

Although Rochester residents usually try to plan their estates carefully in order to prevent disputes between family members, the taxing authority or other parties who stand to benefit from an estate, sometimes estate litigation still emerges.

It is also not at all uncommon for estate litigation in fact to be only the latest battle between family members who have an ongoing feud, meaning that sometimes resolving a dispute does not have a lot to do with money so much as it does with getting even or asserting one’s self. In any event, though, estate litigation can completely derail the process of gathering and then distributing a deceased person’s wealth, no matter where and how that wealth is stored.

Two types of probate dispute are relatively common in Rochester. Many times, a family member or other person who was expecting an inheritance will contest a will that is not favorable to him or her. Usually, the person will claim that the drafter of the will was in some way forced or at least unfairly pressured to do so. Alternatively, one might claim the drafter was not mentally capable of making a will at the time he or she signed the document.

Even when family members do not contest a person’s will itself, they may dislike how the appointed executor is administering the estate and therefore sue for his or her removal, claiming the executor in some way breached his or her fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of all those receiving property under the will.

These types of probate disputes can be very frustrating and can drain a lot of time, not to mention the resources of the estate. For these reasons and others, it is usually a good idea for a party to estate litigation in the Rochester area to get the help of an experienced attorney like the ones at our law office.