Lawyers always recommend wills, more billable hours now and many more later. Lawyers make trusts; about same amount of work as a will but then they are not needed to settle a trust. Probate will take 1-1/2 years +/-. A trust can be settled in months or week depending how competent the trustee is and complexity. Worked on settling both instruments. Trust is much easier. My brother’s will read just like my mother’s trust. I learned from the lawyer and kept meticulous time sheets of every 6 minutes. I had well over 100 hours in this to keep lawyer time down and he still wanted 10 hours an $400 for him and 6 hours at $200 for his ‘paralegal’ Took 18 months no matter what according to the probate judge’s response to me. My mom’s trust was settled in 3 months. I didn’t need a lawyer.
Look up Florida Statutes-Probate and read about it. Easy reading.
In a nutshell, anything with assigned beneficiaries such as a bank account, Fidelity etc., insurance policies, don’t go to probate and don’t belong in a trust. So talk to Andrew Curtis. The trust does far more for you after you die than a will and costs far less now and in the end.
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NH OLD MAN
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