By: David M. Frees III & Steve Lagoy
It’s no secret that the next few years will see a flurry of complex trust and estate disputes in Pennsylvania and throughout the country. As estates become larger and more complex, and as more and more people try to plan their own estates with do-it-yourself websites, the courts have become mired with furious heirs and poorly articulated or incomplete wills and trusts.
As our lifespans increase, families with large estates live on even longer, many going without estate plans altogether. Finally, nontraditional households have become the norm, creating a complex environment for streamlined estate planning.
These factors create a perfect storm for estate and trust disputes, but not all of them have to end up in court. Mediation is a well-known and popularly utilized alternative to formal litigation.
There is a wealth of benefits associated with mediation – for instance, it’s a much less costly endeavor than a full-blown legal proceeding. Mediation can also preserve family relationships by allowing parties locked in a dispute to investigate and explore common ground for mutual and collective benefit.
Mediation can resolve disputes that include:
- attorney fees;
- executor or trustee fees;
- asset distribution in lieu of a will;
- interpretation of a decedent family member’s will;
- estate mismanagement by an executor or trustee;
- elections by a second spouse against a will; and more
To learn more about what opportunities mediation might make available to you if you are currently embroiled in an estate or trust dispute, reach out to a Pennsylvania mediation attorney for legal help.
Consult a Pennsylvania Mediation and Arbitration Attorney
Whether it’s collaborating with your tax advisors, assisting with the filing of Federal Estate and Gift Tax Returns and Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Returns, or providing services to facilitate the resolution of estate and trust administrations, our firm is dedicated to providing unparalleled and uncompromised service to our clients. Contact a Pennsylvania mediation and arbitration attorney for more information on how the Law Offices of Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees can help you. Call us today – 1-610-692-1371.
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