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Some clients want to pay flat fees or contingency fees for estate disputes because they don’t like the “sky is the limit” possibility that can come with hourly rates. Also, they like that flat fees and contingency fees encourage the lawyer to get the best result as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, some clients prefer to pay hourly because they only want to pay for the work that gets done by the estate lawyer.

Neither one is right or wrong. It depends on the client.

Estate planning

Estate planning in Toronto involves the process of organizing and preparing for the distribution of your assets after your death. Estate planning is important for ensuring that your wishes for the distribution of your assets are followed and to minimize the impact of taxes and probate fees. The goal of estate planning is to protect and preserve your assets for future generations and to make sure that your loved ones are taken care of in the event of your death.

Estate planning begins with a comprehensive assessment of your assets, including property, bank accounts, investments, and other personal items. The next step is to determine your objectives and goals, such as whom you would like to receive your assets and in what manner. You may also consider planning for any potential challenges that may arise, such as the possibility of incapacity or challenges to your will.

Assessing your assets

Once you have determined your objectives and assessed your assets, you can begin to create your estate plan. Estate planning often involves the preparation of a will, which outlines your final wishes and appoints an executor to carry out your wishes after your death. You may also consider setting up a trust or other estate planning vehicles, such as power of attorney, to ensure that your wishes are followed.

It is important to work with an experienced estate lawyer to ensure that your estate plan is properly executed and that all necessary legal formalities are met. An estate lawyer can provide you with guidance and support throughout the estate planning process and help you navigate the complex legal landscape.

Saving Money On Litigation In Toronto

Labour-intensive tasks should be done by legal assistants and more junior estate lawyers to save you money.

If the matter is not a simple agreement that needs to be created, you will be asked to provide a retainer, which is often around $3000-5000. This is money that is held in a special trust account and will be applied to your final bill. Anything left over in the trust would be returned to you.

For contingency fees, there is no trust money required. You will only be asked to pay a flat fee disbursement to cover costs. Please note that contingency fees for family law are currently not allowed in Ontario.

There are several groups that are trying to change that as they feel this reduces access to justice for low-income persons.

Estate Disputes Are Stressful

Estate litigation can be messy. When a high net-worth individual has become deceased it is not uncommon for people to make claims over assets. It may be required to hire an estate litigation lawyer to either defend the will or to help you make a claim against the will.

Even though it is possible to sign divorce papers without a lawyer, it is important that both parties understand their rights and obligations.

Also sometimes if a party didn’t get legal advice before signing, they can later challenge the validity of the divorce agreement. Therefore, it’s important to speak to a lawyer.

There are rare circumstances where the person who wrote the will was tricked by a con person into writing the will. If this is the case, please reach out to us right away. Police might get involved to investigate potential fraud.

Toronto Estate Dispute Lawyers

It is often a great first step to get everyone together in the same room for mediation. Often there is a lot of miscommunication and stress around estate issues. Our estate lawyers will encourage everyone to listen to each other and to treat each other with respect.

At the same time, it is the job of our estate lawyers to make sure you feel empowered throughout the estate litigation process. You have rights that need to be upheld and protected.

It is also the job of our lawyers to make sure you understand the litigation process. We take complex legal jargon and present the information to our clients in a way that is easy for our clients to understand.

Estate Dispute Monthly detailed accounts

If you are paying under an hourly rate plan instead of a flat fee or contingency fee you will receive a detailed account at the end of the month. This will explain in detail the work that has been done on your file and how many hours each estate lawyer and law clerk worked on your file.

Further, you will have a chance to go over your account with your lawyer if you have any questions. You will never receive a bill for more than the retainer you provided.

If things change with your case and it becomes more complicated a larger retainer may be required. Estate litigation lawyers do not accept legal aid certificates.

Dispute lawyer Toronto

An experienced estate litigation lawyer in Canada can assist you. Have you recently been named in a conflict? Do you anticipate that your rights have been breached and that you have grounds for estate litigation?

An estate litigation attorney is an important component of your overall strategy to respond to this type of dispute. You might also hear this person referred to as a probate litigation lawyer or trust and estate litigation attorney.

Within Canada, when an estate dispute emerges, it is important to have legal representation as soon as possible. An experienced estate attorney will be able to tell you more about your rights and obligations and can assist you with all aspects of your case.

No one wants to find themselves in the midst of a litigated dispute, but when you are in this position, the support of the right lawyer can make a big difference.

Your lawyer might be able to help you avoid litigation altogether through negotiation or your probate attorney can tell you more about how to prepare for the litigation process.

Flat fee real estate attorney near me

Unfortunately, estate litigation across Canada has become far more common. There are many different types of issues that can lead to lengthy, invasive, and frustrating litigation issues if you do not have the necessary support of estate lawyers to help you right away.

An estate litigation lawyer will evaluate the issues in your case and give you further recommendations about how to proceed.

Situations that lead to estate litigation include

Inadequate provisions for dependence.
Poorly selected executors.
Allegations that a testator did not have testamentary capacity.
Situations involving estate planning concern conflicts with children from a first marriage or a second spouse.
Disposition of sentimental properties.
Complicated estates.
Major changes made in a testator’s will.
Siblings are not treated equally within a will.

Estate Dispute Lawyer Toronto

Unfortunately, these kinds of situations drawn from an allegedly poorly drafted will or an ill-conceived estate plan can have far-reaching implications. These can sustain animosity between family members and prompt estate litigation.

This estate litigation without the support of experienced probate attorneys could drag on for months or years, delaying the handing down of the assets from inside the estate. This can also cause long-lasting family conflicts if each party is not aware of his or her responsibilities or rights.

Whether you are a beneficiary or an executor, you may need the services of an experienced estate litigation lawyer. Both beneficiaries and executors, including non-profit and charity beneficiaries and residual beneficiaries, can be involved in dispute resolution services with the help of an estate litigation lawyer.

This can include negotiations and mediation for the resolution of very complicated and highly emotional estate matters.

When out-of-court alternative dispute resolution methods cannot achieve success, an experienced attorney is there to guide the client through the litigation process.

What to Expect with Estate Litigation In Toronto

If you have never been involved in estate litigation before, this can be an overwhelming and confusing process. Most frequently, estate litigation in Canada involves common disputes.

This occurs between family acquaintances and family members. They are often contesting the contents or the legitimacy of a will.

The insight of a probate lawyer in Canada can assist with the legal evaluation of these issues and can represent those individual clients all the way through trust and estate litigation.

There are many complicating factors involved in estate law such as the numerous cases and laws that define the obligations and rights of parties in estate disputes.

An experienced estate litigation lawyer will understand the emotional and financial stakes involved in probate litigation and the client’s need for closure and a successful outcome.

Estate Dispute Lawyer Toronto Probate Fees

Estate litigation can also be related to disputes over probate fees. It can also be about dependent support claims that have threatened the overall value of the estate. Managing these types of challenges requires the experienced and talented services of a trust attorney.

A probate litigation attorney can work in conjunction with other professionals. This might include someone such as a real estate lawyer. They will help you explain the underlying legal issues involved in the case.

Your estate litigation lawyer should have a track record of getting results for clients. They should understand the personal implications of these case outcomes.

We can help with the interpretation of a will dispute. We can also do a will challenge or beneficiary dispute. Further, we can help with a dependent support claim or the passing of an account dispute.

Will Lawyer Toronto

You need the support of a lawyer who is highly familiar with this complicated area of the law. Get an honest appraisal of the strength of your case when you speak with an attorney who has significant experience in this practice area.

Susie was 36 when she caught the flu. She never thought about what happens when you die without a will.

Her fever raging and gasping for air, she had a friend drive her to a medical clinic late one evening.

From there, it was a quick trip to a hospital ICU. Within days, she was gone, one of nearly 100 Canadians who died of flu that year. A worldwide pandemic in 2009 killed over 203,000 people.

Every adult has a will. Don’t they?

When Susie’s family searched her condo and safety deposit box, they came up empty-handed. Why would she bother? She didn’t expect to die so soon.

Like eight percent of Canadians, Susie simply didn’t want to think about it. She was too young to worry, or so she thought and didn’t really have any assets.

Except for her late model car, furniture she was buying on a monthly financing plan, condo with 15 years left on the mortgage, employee pension, RRSP, gold jewelry, personal papers, two-year-old Chihuahua, Miguel, and sponsored child, Luis in Bolivia.

Besides. she was saving her money for an impressive set of designer cookware. As time would tell, most of her excuses were misplaced. In fact, dying without a will would create many headaches and delays for her family in the days and months to come.

Susie joined the 54 percent of Ontarians surveyed in 2018 who have not planned ahead. With no valid will, the Ontario government stepped in.

Speak to an estate dispute lawyer in Toronto to get legal advice.

Ontario Succession Law Reform Act

Her property was deemed “intestate” and divided using the Ontario Succession Law Reform Act. Only blood relatives or legally adopted children could inherit.

Susie wasn’t married, but if she had been her spouse would have received the first $200,000 or could have opted for 50 percent of her net family property. If he thought to file a claim. That might have changed if they had a dependent child, either a minor or an adult.

A lawyer would have advised her family what to do. Anything left over could have been shared between her spouse and children or grandchildren if she had any. Their share would have been based on rules in the Succession Law Reform Act.

Estate Dispute Lawyer Toronto

Since Susie died without a spouse, children, or grandchildren, her parents inherited them. Her mom and dad shared the estate equally. Susie had one brother and two sisters, all still alive.

They would have inherited it if her parents had died before her. Or if all of her other family was deceased before her estate could be distributed, Susie’s nieces and nephews would have been in line.

The rules would have been even more complex if Susie had no close family members. In that case, distant relatives like cousins could have been eligible. Fortunately, a lawyer was available to explain the rules.

Susie’s friends never did share in her precious mementos. Her family simply didn’t know what her final wishes were.

Don’t die without a will. With so many things to consider.

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