The loss of a loved one is never an easy time. It is unfortunate that during such a sensitive time, the worst in people will often come out. Family members sometimes divide instead of come together. This is especially true when it comes to the settlement of the estate. Family members will often part on a bad company because of disagreement on how an estate is settled. Consequently, you find yourself in Estate Litigation. You are in a bad state of mind already. What do you do from here?
Ideally, when a person dies, all of his or her final affairs have already been pre-arranged. Sadly, more times than not, this is not the case. Creditors that have not been paid, and greedy family members make claims against the estate that must be settled. The estate gets hung up, for example, because one of the decedent’s heirs feels that the will involved in the estate is faulty or erroneous. The estate will then go through a legal process which is known as probate. Whoever was made the executor of the estate will have to file a petition to bring the estate up before the courts.
When a claim has been made against the estate by a creditor, but the executor does not or will not agree to what the creditor requests, the matter is fought in probate court. In the case of a will, if a beneficiary contests the will, that issue will also end up in probate court. However, in accord with the process, mediation is ordered for the parties involved to see if it can be resolved at that level first.
Robert S. Cutrona Esq. is an experienced lawyer in Staten Island, New York who is dedicated to helping clients to get to the best possible resolution in an Estate Litigation. For over 23 years, he has been providing clients in the Staten Island and surrounding New York cities in the areas of estate planning, eviction law, probate law, taxation law, and of course estate litigation. If you are in a situation where there will be possible estate litigation, visit the website of Robert S. Cutrona,us for more information.
