Today, let us tell you a cautionary tale:
Recently, our attorney was hired to represent an heir in a probate here in Tulsa County, Oklahoma. The person who passed away was an 87 year old male who passed away unexpectedly. He was unmarried, had no children, no living parents, siblings, etc. His living heirs are his great niece and nephews (who do not really get along).
When he passed away, none of his heirs knew if he had a Last Will & Testament, and if he did have one, where they were. No one knew what assets he owned, where his money was invested, or anything else. He had managed all of his assets by himself, and he lived by himself, so there was not a caretaker who would have more information. The heirs were left with no information, no plan, and no way to access any of the assets. The heirs do not get along, which means multiple attorneys got involved, which is very costly.
For three months now, our attorney has been working with another attorney and their clients trying to go through the home and see if there was an estate plan in place, and to secure the assets. No Will has been located, and it looked like the deceased male met with roughly 4-7 estate planning attorneys in the last year, but never got an estate plan in place. Due to that, this probate is now going to be a lot more costly and long. The heirs are going to get their share, but this may not have been what he wanted. Everything would have been a lot easier had he gotten an estate plan done. Even a simple Will could help tremendously.
Use this cautionary tale as a way for you to know that you should not wait to get an estate plan. You do not know when the worst could happen. Call us today to set up a free consultation to see what kind of estate plan you should get in place!
