Probate Lawyer Helena, MT 
If you hope to avoid placing your loved ones in a position wherein they are compelled to navigate the probate process after you’re gone, schedule a consultation with a probate lawyer Helena, MT residents trust. In being as proactive as possible concerning the structure of your estate plan, you may be able to avoid having your estate subjected to probate after you’ve passed away. In situations wherein it isn’t possible to avoid probate, being proactive during the estate planning process can help to ensure that this probate-related inevitability is as cost-effective and low-stress as possible for the benefit of your loved ones and beneficiaries.
Is It Possible to Avoid Probate in Montana?
It’s important to work with an experienced Helena estate planning attorney when trying to avoid contentious probate matters and to minimize the stressful effects of probate generally. This is an important distinction. Sometimes the word “probate” is used to refer to the proving of a deceased individual’s will in the event that a conflict or lack of information about the deceased’s intentions arises. However, the word “probate” is usually referred to – in Montana, at least – as the general administration of an individual’s estate. While it isn’t ordinarily possible to avoid the broader “estate administration” meaning of the word when an individual dies in Montana (as the law requires an estate to be administered in specific ways) unless all of your assets are placed into a living trust, it is usually possible to avoid the contentious kind of probate if you approach the process of constructing your estate plan carefully.
When estate plans are constructed in enforceable ways, are comprehensive, and are kept up-to-date, there are usually few – if any – legitimate reasons for surviving loved ones and potential beneficiaries to question the wishes of the deceased. When there is no cause for in-fighting or confusion, contentious probate proceedings can be avoided. However, a failure to construct a thorough estate plan (that addresses everything from burial instructions to digital estate instructions) and/or a failure to keep a thorough, enforceable estate plan current may lead to points of contention that could spark estate litigation.
Legal Assistance Is Available
Approaching one’s estate planning process in a proactive way is never easy, emotionally-speaking. It is, therefore, tempting to avoid estate planning so that you don’t have to grapple with the reality that someday, you will no longer be around to take care of your loved ones directly. However, it is critically important that you dig into the estate planning process as thoroughly and proactively as possible so that your loved ones aren’t saddled with unnecessary estate-related burdens while they are processing their grief related to your loss.
The experienced Montana legal team at Silverman Law Office, PLLC will do everything in our power to ensure that the estate planning and probate-prevention processes you need to face are as low-stress, efficient, effective, and straightforward as possible. Our Helena, MT probate lawyer team understands how tough tackling this legal need can be and we’ll do what we can to minimize that stress on your behalf; we look forward to speaking with you.
