“I dreamt about Grandma again last night. I dream about her several times a month,” I told my mom on the phone.
My grandmother died six years ago yet I still think about her frequently when an Elvis song comes on the radio or a smell brings back memories of my spending every summer in Maine with her.
Although there were some rocky times towards the end of her life following my grandparents’ divorce, it’s funny that all I remember is all of the good times we had when I was growing up. I suppose that is how it should be.
My grandmother left a Will when she died. Although I would have drafted the Will more thoroughly (and even made such suggestions to my grandmother, but hey, what does a granddaughter know even if she does this for a living!), it did get the job done and there was, thankfully, no family fighting over the division of assets.
But, as you know if you have watched any of my videos on our website, a Will requires a probate to be effective.
Will = Probate = Estate
So my family hired a Maine probate attorney to settle my grandmother’s affairs. The law firm we hired did a good job and were expedient so I cannot complain.
Probate gets a bad rap in Florida. As with Maine probate, Florida probate has a mandatory sequence of events and waiting periods that must occur before the distribution of monies and assets can take place. Plus, there are additional legal fees and court courts that often run in the thousands, or even tens of thousands, of dollars.
However, there are many ways to avoid probate (which we discuss at your Family Succession Planning Session).
We handle probate and trust administration matters in our office after the death of a loved one. And, unlike most Florida probate attorneys, we only charge flat, fixed fees; we do not bill hourly so there are never any surprise bills. If you’ve had a loved one die, you can schedule a no-obligation probate consultation with us online here.
Death of a loved one sucks, no doubt about it. However, hopefully they left us with loving fond memories and a stress-free post-death administration to handle.
Kristen “Missing My Grandma” Marks
