For Estate Administration services including probate administration or trust
termination, if services will be provided for a period of several months or
years, we prepare a specific fee agreement according to the services required
or requested to settle an estate by probate administration or trust termination
procedures.
When estimating fees and costs, important factors are whether or not the personal
representative is able to handle estate duties or if the attorney must do all
work on behalf of the estate because the nominated personal representative
is not an experienced fiduciary.
Of course, a significant factor is whether probate administration is required
for the estate. Other factors include: number of beneficiaries, cooperation
and patience of beneficiaries, number and types of assets and accounts, creditors
such as recent medical providers, etc.
The initial step is to determine the scope of services required for the estate:
miscellaneous estate reporting requirements and / or
probate estate administration
Trust termination
Creation and funding Credit Shelter or Family Trust
Disclaimer
Preparation or review of Federal and Florida 706 (tax filings)
If you are not sure whether or not to proceed, but want the Law Office of Laura L. Hillier to meet with the person who will settle the estate - to review the estate documents and assets in order to determine alternative ways to proceed, and to determine a fee estimate, please schedule a “review appointment” - our minimum fee for settling an estate is $250.00, due at the time of the appointment.