Probate Litigation (Trust & Estate Litigation)
Virginia Trust and Estate Attorney
Everything You Need to Know About Trusts, Estates, and Probate Litigation
MartinWren, P.C. is an AV-rated law firm consisting of a team of highly qualified attorneys providing comprehensive legal services. Our wills, trusts, and estates lawyers have over fifty years of experience and take great pride in continuing to provide legally excellent and caring representation. We will take the time to explain the process and the law to you.
When you are thinking about planning your estate, it is advisable to ask a Virginia trust and estate attorney to help you. This is especially important when there are significant assets involved, or other special circumstances. If you don’t know whether or not a Virginia trust and estate attorney will be able to help you, please call MartinWren, P.C. , or ask yourself:
- Are there assets that I would like to pass on to certain loved ones?
- Would I benefit from reducing my taxes?
- Should I safeguard my assets from creditors?
- Do I want my loved ones to have to go through the probate process?
- Is there a potential for a dispute to arise after my death?
- Is it important for me to protect my children’s inheritance?
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, calling a Virginia trust and estate attorney will be the right choice.
Our Services
As a Virginia trust and estate attorney might explain to you, no two estates are exactly alike. However, there may be similarities which result in the need for similar actions or services on the part of a lawyer. Some of these include:
- Understand how your assets are owned
- The amount of assets you own
- The worth of your assets
- Who your heirs or beneficiaries might be
- Who will be named as the executor or trustee
- How your assets can avoid probate
- How your entire estate can avoid probate
- The difference between a will or a trust
- What insurance policies are in your name
- An estimated amount of taxes your estate will own
- How taxes can be reduced
- Updating your estate
- Debt planning
- + More
If you plan for all of the above, or at least the elements that may be most relevant to your estate, you can feel peace of mind in knowing any burden upon your loved ones will be significantly lifted.
Planning Your Estate with a Trust
In terms of planning an estate, a Virginia trust and estate attorney might advise you to consider a trust. There are several different types of trusts and each has their own advantages. In general, a trust will save you money on taxes, protect you against any creditors, and prevent your heirs from having to go through the probate process. As good as a trust might be, they are not for everyone and do tend to involve a lot of time, preparation, and money in the beginning. A lawyer can help you to understand whether a trust is an ideal estate planning tool.
What You Should Know About a Living Trust
When you first decide to plan your estate, you might feel overwhelmed, a little sad, and unsure about how to do this process in the best way possible. Although trust planning might at first seem difficult, it is not too bad when you have the help of a trust and estate planning attorney in Virginia.
As an attorney might explain, there are 2 common types of living trusts: revocable and irrevocable. Depending on your needs and objectives, one may be more favorable than the other.
Revocable Trust – This trust can be altered, changed, or adjusted during the course of your life. For example, you can add and remove assets, name new beneficiaries, or delete the trust as it stands.
Irrevocable Trust – This trust cannot be amended once it has been legally drafted. If you have signed the trust, you basically give up your rights to the contents within the trust. The person who has been named as the trustee will be in charge of managing the assets. The benefit of this trust is that the estate can avoid nearly all taxes.
Special Needs Trust
If you have a child who has special needs and is getting government funding, such as Medicare , you can draft a special needs trust which will allocate assets and finances to the beneficiary without them losing their government benefits.
If you are involved in a dispute regarding a will, trust, or probate proceeding, you need a probate litigation attorney who is well skilled in protecting the rights of others in these stressful but significant legal proceedings.
Our probate litigation team consists of excellent and seasoned trial attorneys. Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, we bring years of experience dealing with individuals who are involved in controversies arising out of the probate process.
The probate litigation attorneys at MartinWren, P.C. represent executors, administrators, personal representatives, trustees, and beneficiaries in litigation that arises during the estate administration or probate process. These may include:
Will Contests: MartinWren, P.C. represents those involved in a challenge to the validity of a will or a specific provision of a will. This may include questions as to testamentary capacity, duress, undue influence, fraud, or misrepresentation.
Suits for Aid and Direction: MartinWren, P.C. represents both fiduciaries who are struggling to carry out the provisions of a will or trust and beneficiaries of a will or trust who feel the intention of the will or trust is not being honored. Our probate litigation attorneys can advise you regarding the duties owed by a fiduciary and the rights and responsibilities of both fiduciary and beneficiary under the will or trust instrument.
Elective Share Proceedings: MartinWren, P.C. represents individuals who were either omitted from their spouse’s will or who believe the will did not adequately provide for them as the surviving spouse. Our will litigation attorneys can uncover whether the surviving spouse has recovered fully under the will and, if not, can seek the amount legally due to the surviving spouse.
Accounting Actions: MartinWren, P.C. represents executors and personal representatives charged with the daunting task of administering a will precisely according to its written terms. As probate administrations range from the simple to the ultra-complex, legal representation may be necessary in order to alleviate the heavy responsibility placed upon the executor or personal representative and to ensure that the beneficiaries are all provided for just as the creator of the will or trust saw fit.
The Virginia trust and estate attorneys at MartinWren, P.C. are honest, straightforward, and maintain good relationships with other attorneys and the respect of judges alike. It is our desire to work together amicably with all parties to reach a swift solution that fully protects your best interests. When that is not possible, however, the attorneys at MartinWren, P.C. are ready and willing to vigorously take their representation inside the courtroom.
If you find yourself in the middle of a controversy surrounding a will, trust, or estate administration, please contact either John B. Simpson or Jonathan T. Wren, the probate litigation attorneys of MartinWren, P.C., at (434)817-3100. We will schedule a consultation and begin working to resolve your matter and ease your mind.