When you’re searching online for a “probate lawyer near me”, you must keep in mind that upon your initial consultation, you may be asked to fill in a questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed to help your probate attorney help you, so it’s important that you are prepared!
Probate Lawyer Near Me: Preparing For Your First Meeting
It’s vital that you invest the time in pulling together a list of questions for your prospective probate attorney. What most people don’t know, though, is that they will also need to answer quite a few questions when they start working with their attorney. Today we want to help you to prepare for those questions.
Your Own Information
Obviously your attorney will need to know your information and most of this you should be able to provide without any preparation. For the sake of completeness, however, we’ll include this information below:
- Your name
- Your mailing address
- Your e-mail address
- Your phone number
- Your relationship to the deceased person
The Identity of the Deceased Person
You should expect to have to provide information on the person who passed away. This information includes the following:
- Their full name
- Their date of birth
- Their social security number
- Were they married?
- If so, what was the spouse’s name?
- Is the spouse still living?
- If the spouse is deceased, when did they die?
- Did they have any children?
- If so, were any of these children adopted?
- What is the name/date of birth for each child
- Were any of these children from a previous marriage?
- Are any of the children in financial debt to the deceased?
- Did any of the children get an advance on their inheritance?
- Are any children of the deceased, themselves deceased? If so, what are the names of any deceased children
- Did any deceased children have children of their own?
- Did they have any grandchildren who are deceased?
- If, so, what was the child’s name?
- What was the child’s date of birth?
- Who are the child’s parents?
Estate Planning
You will also need to know a little bit about the deceased person’s estate plans. This includes things like:
- Did they have a Last Will and Testament? (If so, you will need to give your attorney a copy of the will.)
- Did they have an existing trust? (If so, you will need to give your attorney a copy of the existing trust.)
- Did the deceased designate an executor for their estate? (If so, who was named?)
- Did the deceased have a safety deposit box?
- If so, where is the safety deposit box located?
- Does anyone else have access to this safety deposit box?
- Did the deceased have an attorney?
- If so, who is this attorney and what is their contact information?
- Did the deceased have an accountant?
- If so, who are they and what is their contact information?
- Did the deceased have a financial manager?
- If so, who are they and what is their contact information?
- Did the deceased have an investment advisor?
- If so, who are they and what is their contact information?
- Did the deceased have an insurance agent?
- If so, who are they and what is their contact information?
- Did the deceased have a life insurance policy?
- If so, you will need information pertaining to this policy including the issuing company, the type of policy, and how much the policy is for.
Assets of the Deceased
You should also have access to information about the deceased assets including:
- The net worth of their estate (this can be estimated)
- Any accounts at financial institutions
- Any investments including:
- Cash or money fund accounts
- The personal residence of the deceased (including the address)
- Real estate owned by the deceased (including the location of this real estate)
- Certificates of deposit
- Stocks, bonds, and mutual funds
- U.S. savings bonds
- Treasury bills
- Other government securities
- Involvement in any limited partnerships
- Oil and gas royalty or working interests
- Oil and gas rights in land
- Individual retirement accounts (IRAs)
- Employer-provided profit sharing, retirement, or other benefit plans
- Did the deceased own a business? If so, you will need to provide information on this business including:
- How many businesses did they own?
- What is the structure of any business they owned?
- Who else owns part of this business? (Include their name and contact information)
- Annuities which offer payment after death benefits (Include the name of the annuitant and the type of annuity)
- Any personal property excluding vehicles
- Did the deceased have any debts or liabilities?
Other Information
You should also know the following:
- Is any money currently owed to the deceased? If so, you will need proof of that debt owed, information on who owes that debt, and what their contact information is.
Still Searching For a “Probate Lawyer Near Me”?
If you’re still searching online for a “probate lawyer near me” and you live in or around the St Pete’s area of Florida, we encourage you to give us a call here at Weidner Law at 727-954-8752. We have been assisting Floridians with their probate cases since we began practice and we’d be more than happy to help you too!
