When a person passes away, their property may need to go through an estate administration process that could take the form of a court-managed process called probate, a non-court managed process under a trust called trust administration, or a small estate procedure called a small estate affidavit. Some assets may pass through non-probate transfers or a combination of the above.

In any administration, a personal representative, a trustee or other representative can be responsible for inventorying and appraising assets, paying debts, managing and/or selling assets, preparing a settlement showing income and disbursements, and distributing assets to the distributees or beneficiaries entitled to receive them.

Our estate planning practice helps clients plan ahead to avoid difficulties. Our trust administration and probate practice helps those plans to be carried out smoothly when possible.

When an effective plan is not in place at death or parties disagree, it is an unfortunate fact that disputes can sometimes be contentious and emotionally charged. Solid legal advice and effective representation can often efficiently resolve issues, but sometimes litigation is inevitable.

CVDL has decades of experience with trust administration, probate, and related litigation, and experienced staff who help in these areas. When you become a client of the firm, we can examine your situation and recommend approaches and solutions. A variety of facts and circumstances factor into what type of estate administration process may be necessary based on the type of the assets the decedent owned at the time of his or her death and the type of estate plan (if any) that the decedent had in place.

If you would like to build a relationship with a law firm that provides high quality legal services, or if you have a question related to probate or trust administration, please contact us to make an appointment for an initial consultation.

We work with our clients to help seek the best possible resolution. We bring to the table our commonsense approach towards handling sometimes difficult family matters, which frequently can be fairly resolved through consensus building and improved communication.

When commonsense techniques fail, we are adept at handling matters in the court system. CVDL has attorneys and trial lawyers who possess in-depth knowledge of the substantive law and unique procedures applicable to Missouri probate and trust disputes. Other lawyers often seek our help in difficult or complex situations.

Some of the issues our attorneys handle include:

• Trust administration
• Probate matters
• Disputes between heirs
• Will contests
• Interpretation of trusts
• Undue influence