Illinois wills are often unnecessarily confusing, especially when they land you in complicated and costly probate court litigation. While we work with many of our clients to plan their estates around avoiding probate, some people come to us already mired in the painstakingly slow estate valuation and distribution characteristic of the processes. When this happens, our first goal at Zapolis & Associates, P.C., is to expedite the situation as much as possible for the good of the family.
Even though it is one of our main areas of practice, we do not want to be in probate litigation any more than our clients do. Our end goal is not to be in court: It is to help our clients repair lives, reclaim family assets and get back to some semblance of their normal lives. To that end, we cultivate the ability to carefully, compassionately and quickly unravel complex issues:
- Emotionally charged disagreements with a will
- Wills or other documents changed suspiciously or recently
- Adults who were financially dependent on the decedent
- Distribution of family businesses
We often find that, beyond the initial shock and stubbornness that tends to follow a loss in the family, most everyone involved has similar goals. For example, most litigants end up agreeing to keep a family business intact, often assigning ownership to the most active participants in exchange for other liquidated assets, real property or securities held by the estate.
If you have ever been involved in or borne witness to an estate dispute, you know there is more at stake than hard assets. That is why we attempt to solve estate and probate law matters while minimizing the financial and emotional investment required of our clients. Please continue to learn more on our main site.