(316) 330-4110Wichita Inheritance Attorney
You Deserve Time to Mourn!
When you lose someone you love, it is likely that the last thing on your mind is their will. You know you will have your hands full getting their affairs in order, especially if you were named the executor in their will, but you also know you need to take time to remember your loved one and handle your own feelings of grief and loss.
Something that will immediately inhibit your ability to mourn is if your family starts fighting over things like inheritance, the decedent’s will, and what they think is and isn’t fair about the way things are being handled. This is doubly true if you are also the executor of the will, meaning you have even more responsibilities than others who are mourning their loss.
Working with an experienced attorney who understands inheritance laws can alleviate the pressure and help you focus on more important things, like grieving your loss.
Find out how The Law Office of Andrew Rowe offers legal services with the goal of helping families understand the sensitive situations surrounding estate planning.
How Does Estate Planning Impact Inheritance?
Estate planning helps people plan for the future. People are able to create guidelines for how they would like their medical treatment handled with things like living wills or continue making donations to charities after they pass with charitable trusts. A cornerstone of estate planning is an individual’s will.
A will is a legal document that allows a person to inventory the assets and personal property within their estate and plan for its distribution to their beneficiaries after they are gone. Proper estate planning allows a person to guide their family members in satisfying their final wishes when they are unable to voice those wishes themselves.
Wills impact inheritance because they outline how the decedent’s estate will be divided. If a person dies without a will, they are said to have died intestate.
Wills consist of several key components:
- The testator is the person who creates the will.
- The executor is the person who is appointed to carry out the will.
- The beneficiaries are the individuals who receive assets and property from the will.
With or without a will, a person’s estate must pass through the probate process after they die. If they had a will, the court would attempt to honor it. The executor will be tasked with creating an inventory of the decedent’s estate, paying taxes and other debts owed by the estate, and then distributing the remaining assets according to the decedent’s wishes.
When a person dies without a will, they have died intestate. This means that the probate court may assign a person to act as the executor of the estate. The probate court will attempt to ensure that the debts and taxes owed by the estate are satisfied, and then it will try to distribute the decedent’s assets fairly according to Kansas laws of succession.
This all impacts how the heirs receive their inheritance. Proper planning can help heirs avoid will disputes and result in a happier family that can properly process their emotions.
A lack of estate planning is more likely to frustrate heirs and potential heirs and leave them feeling that things were not handled fairly or according to the decedent’s final wishes.
What is Probate?
As mentioned above, probate is the legal process where the court takes stock of the decedent’s estate and determines the fairest way to distribute the assets from the estate to the right beneficiaries. This process can be taxing and result in animosity when the beneficiaries believe the decedent’s estate is being mismanaged.
It is impossible to avoid probate, but many estate planning services can make the process more efficient and result in the smooth transfer of assets from the decedent to the beneficiaries.
If you are struggling with the probate process or you have been tasked with executing a loved one’s will, you may benefit from speaking with a probate attorney. Probate attorneys understand estate planning goals and may be able to better help you and your family understand the process of inheritance and how the decedent’s estate planning was intended to benefit you.
Which Estate Planning Services Can Help the Probate Process?
Creating a trust can be one of the most efficient ways to ease the impact of probate. When a person creates a trust, the administration of that trust has already been specified. The assets are already accounted for, and their distribution is already outlined. Trust administration is an important part of distributing a person’s estate.
Trusts also have many added estate planning benefits. Charitable trusts may offer tax benefits, while irrevocable trusts may protect the assets within the trust. Trusts are more private than probate, meaning the assets beneficiaries receive are not on display for public scrutiny.
What Are Common Reasons for Will Disputes?
There are a few reasons a will may be disputed. Heirs and potential heirs may be looking for any reason to dispute the validity or intent of a will, greed being the unfortunate frontrunner for disputes.
Someone may choose to dispute the will based on its perceived validity. For a will to hold up in the state of Kansas, it must meet certain legal requirements. This means it must be in writing, signed by the testator, and witnessed by two witnesses who do not have a stake in the estate. The testator must be mentally sound and aware of what they are doing when they sign their will.
If you are another heir who believes that the decedent’s will was created or altered while the decedent lacked the cognitive ability to understand their actions, it is possible to dispute the will. Some signifiers of this can be a family member or friend who rarely interacted with the decedent while they were alive and suddenly took a bigger interest in them. This can come in the form of spending more time with them or even showering them with gifts in an effort to gain favor. This is a form of undue influence, and if you believe the decedent was influenced to change their will, you may have grounds to dispute it.
The wording of a will matters. If the decedent intended to disinherit a child or spouse, it must be mentioned in the will. Simply leaving them nothing opens up the opportunity to dispute the will, claiming the oversight was accidental or unintentional. If the decedent had worked with an estate planning attorney, they would have had the tools to know they were creating sound documents that could withstand scrutiny.
Why Would You Need an Inheritance Lawyer?
There are many reasons you may wish to hire an attorney who understands inheritance laws. Perhaps you are the executor of the will, and you are struggling with creating an inventory and tracking down creditors or taxing authorities who have a claim. Or, you’re noticing inconsistencies around the decedent’s will, and you feel like it warrants a second look from a well-versed probate attorney.
If you are trying to create a will that settles disputes before they even begin and estate planning that benefits your heirs and ensures everyone has the time necessary to grieve and heal, then it is never too early to start working with an estate planning attorney.
Either way, you deserve peace of mind. Call 316-330-4110 to speak with The Law Office of Andrew Rowe to find out how our extensive estate planning experience can help ensure that your loved one’s final wishes are being honored. Call our law office today to schedule your consultation!