{"id":3567,"date":"2018-04-09T11:26:58","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T15:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/?p=3567"},"modified":"2019-04-12T12:39:52","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T16:39:52","slug":"pay-attention-to-red-flags-in-estate-planning-to-avoid-litigation-after-death-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/pay-attention-to-red-flags-in-estate-planning-to-avoid-litigation-after-death-part-i.html","title":{"rendered":"Pay Attention to Red Flags in Estate Planning to Avoid Litigation After Death"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Years of experience in administering estates have taught us that the best way to avoid litigation after death is to plan during life. We have come to identify several \u201cred flags\u201d that, when not addressed during estate planning, are more often than not resolved in a courtroom. Not only does this mean that a judge, rather than the client, is ultimately deciding how the client\u2019s property is disposed of, but the process can be lengthy, emotional, and expensive. With the possibility that attorney\u2019s fees will be paid before any property is distributed to the family members, the lawyers may become beneficiaries of the estate when it is contested.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Unequal distribution of assets amongst children.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Clients who want to distribute their property to their children unequally are almost always asking for a fight. They may want to do this because they are estranged from a child or because they believe that one child \u201cneeds\u201d more than another. The slighted child, however, may not agree with mom or dad\u2019s decision. When this comes as a surprise to a child after the client\u2019s death \u2013 and the parent is no longer here to explain the thought process and to act as mediator amongst the children \u2013 the slighted child feels like his or her only recourse is to hire an attorney.<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/pay-attention-to-red-flags-in-estate-planning-to-avoid-litigation-after-death-part-i.html\"  title=\"Continue Reading Pay Attention to Red Flags in Estate Planning to Avoid Litigation After Death\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Years of experience in administering estates have taught us that the best way to avoid litigation after death is to plan during life. We have come to identify several \u201cred flags\u201d that, when not addressed during estate planning, are more often than not resolved in a courtroom. Not only does this mean that a judge, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[320,65,81,248,343],"tags":[],"coauthors":[185,322],"class_list":["post-3567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-candido","category-insights","category-estabrook","category-litigation-insights","category-wills-trusts-estates-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pay Attention to Red Flags in Estate Planning to Avoid Litigation After Death &#8212; April 9, 2018 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. Firm News &amp; Events<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Years of experience in administering estates have taught us that the best way to avoid litigation after death is to plan during life. We have come to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/pay-attention-to-red-flags-in-estate-planning-to-avoid-litigation-after-death-part-i.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pay Attention to Red Flags in Estate Planning to Avoid Litigation After Death &#8212; April 9, 2018 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. 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Estabrook, Elizabeth Candido Petite\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pay Attention to Red Flags in Estate Planning to Avoid Litigation After Death &#8212; April 9, 2018 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. Firm News &amp; Events","description":"Years of experience in administering estates have taught us that the best way to avoid litigation after death is to plan during life. 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