Everyone wants to know the best tips when looking for a contested will or estate lawyer. The fact is, every case is different, and it’s essential to make sure you’re hiring the right one for your case. Even though you want to fight and claim that you trust more on your instincts, hire an expert first. There are many legal procedures involved in raising a will contest. If you’re looking for the best tips when hiring a contested will or estate lawyer, please read this article before making any decisions.
Make Sure Your Contested Will or Estate Lawyer Is Licensed
Making sure that your contested will or estate lawyer is licensed is one of the best ways to hire someone qualified to help you with your case. The first step in doing this is to ensure that the contested will or estate lawyer you are considering has a license in Australia. A lawyer’s license enables them to practice law within the place where they have been licensed. If you are not very sure about whether or not a lawyer is licensed in your state, check with the local bar association or call the state’s attorney general’s office.
Hire Someone Who Specializes in This Area
There are so many ways that wills can be contested and require different approaches. A general lawyer may not be able to give you the needed assistance, and you want someone who has experience with contested estates and can help you navigate through the legal system.
Ask for Credentials
Asking for credentials is one way to ensure that a will or estate lawyer is qualified to handle your case. You can also ask if they have legal malpractice insurance and have ever faced disciplinary action from an administrative law judge or other authorities. If they haven’t met any disciplinary actions, they’re likely a good choice for handling your case because they’ve never been found guilty of incompetence or misconduct by an authorized body.
Look at Online Reviews
While this isn’t always a great way to determine whether someone is good at their job, it can give you insight into what kind of experience people have had with this type of will or estate lawyer. There are many websites where people leave reviews about their experiences with attorneys.
Check Their Track Record
You should also check an attorney’s track record by asking them about any similar cases they’ve handled before. An attorney who has dealt with these similar cases in the past will be more familiar with how those cases were resolved and how similar cases are handled today.
Don’t Hire Someone Who Charges Less Than AU$1,000 per Hour
While it may seem like many lawyers are willing to charge less than AU$1,000 per hour, these lawyers typically don’t have much experience handling contested wills and estate cases and often don’t really know how to handle these types of cases properly. For example, they may not know how to prepare for trial or what evidence needs to be gathered before the trial starts.
Get a Referral
Ask any of your family members, friends and co-workers who they would use in similar situations. If they don’t know anyone personally, they might have heard of someone good from others who have been through a similar situation. If they don’t want to give out names, ask them why not; sometimes, referrals are given only after a contested will or estate lawyer has earned their trust by doing good work for them.
Meet With the Contested Will or Estate Lawyer
Before hiring a contested will or estate lawyer, meeting with the lawyer and discussing your case is crucial. The contested will or estate lawyer should be able to tell you if they can help you and, if so, how much it will cost. You should not hire a contested will or estate lawyer until you have met with them in person and discussed your case thoroughly. You want to ensure that they have experience handling cases like yours and understand all of your case’s details.
Meet With More Than One Contested Will or Estate Lawyer
Hiring a contested will or estate lawyer can be a stressful, confusing, and expensive process. You want to make sure that you successfully hire the right person for your case, so it’s essential to meet with more than one contested will or estate lawyer to get an idea of what they can do for you. This will give you time to compare each lawyer and their experience in handling similar cases. If you only meet with one lawyer and you don’t feel comfortable with them, then it may be time to move on and start over again.
Conclusion
It would be best if you were extremely careful when signing on the dotted line when hiring an attorney for a contested will or estate case. After all, for many people, these situations can be highly emotional and stressful. You don’t want to hire the wrong will or estate lawyer and end up in more trouble than you were before the whole ordeal even began. Hopefully, now you know the best tips before hiring a contested will or estate lawyer.
