Probate and Trustee Support
Phone: 1-844-602-4242
Local Number: 519-256-7130
Estate Disputes and Litigation
Several claims can be brought against an estate, including will challenges, dependent support claims, and spousal election claims. You may need advice from an estate litigation lawyer. This website contains pages describing the most common claims.
Probate and Trustee Support
Probate means obtaining proof from the court that one or more people are the proper executors or trustees of an estate. A probate lawyer can help greatly with this process. An executor or trustee may still need advice from a lawyer even after they obtain probate or learn that probate is not necessary.
Estate Trustee Services
Katzman Estate Law offers professional estate trustee services. Our experience with high-conflict, legally complex estate matters equips us to steer estates through troubled waters while remaining neutral, responsive, and professional regardless of the circumstances.
Main Office Located in Windsor
— Offices in Chatham, Sarnia & Toronto/GTA —
An Estate Lawyer on Your Side
Initial phone calls are always free
You need an estate lawyer when:
- You need to prove the validity of a will by obtaining probate.
- You want to go beyond what a will provides. You are not always stuck with what a will gives you, especially if you were married to the deceased person or in a common law relationship with the deceased. Learn more on this website under the Types of Cases heading, in particular the Spousal Election and Dependant Support Claim sections;
- An estate trustee refuses to provide you with your inheritance, information, or documents;
- A bank account was held jointly between a deceased person and their adult child;
- An estate trustee fails to act in the best interests of beneficiaries and creditors; or
- You want to prove that a will is invalid.
As several strict and short time limits apply to estate litigation, you should call Katzman Estate Law today if you have concerns. We want to hear what you have to say and will never charge you for an initial phone call. An estate litigation lawyer or probate lawyer can provide you with much-needed context for your issue.
Beyond simply meeting time limits, we assertively push matters forward towards their conclusions. For representation that will bring movement to your file, call Katzman Estate Law.
A will does not always determine what someone inherits from the estate, especially if the will is not fair to a spouse or dependent. If the following information is relevant to you, please call us for advice:
There are many strict requirements that must typically all be satisfied for a will to be valid.
Marriage usually revokes a will made before the marriage.
Divorce will significantly change how a will is interpreted.
The law allows a surviving husband or wife to choose between what a will provides and what they would have received had a divorce occurred on the day before the death. This is called a spousal election and it allows a husband or wife of the deceased to elect out of a will. To make this election, the spouse needed to be married to the deceased at the time of death.
If an estate does not adequately provide for dependants, including a dependant husband, ex-husband, common law husband, wife, ex-wife, common law wife, child, adult child or sibling, those dependants can make an application to the court to receive adequate support. Dependants are not necessarily stuck with what a will provides.
If someone was contributing to property that they did not own, they may have gained an interest in that property even if that property was given away to someone else in a will.
If someone was providing services or work to a deceased while they were alive, they may be entitled to compensation even if there is no provision for that in a will.
An estate must pay its debts. If a deceased person owed you money, you can claim against the assets of the estate.
As estate matters can be full of pitfalls, it is important to know whether you or your children have a strong case before you bring a dispute. On the other hand, you may miss your chance to protect your inheritance if you do not act quickly.
For these reasons, it is important to receive good legal advice as soon as possible. Certainly, if you have been provided with a copy of a will and have concerns about what it says, or if a trustee refuses to provide you with a copy of the will within a reasonable period of time, you should call us.
Eric Katzman
Eric Katzman is an experienced lawyer at Katzman Estate Law who can help with estate matters. Within a few minutes on the phone, Eric will get to the heart of your estate issue, whether it is a litigation or probate matter.
No-obligation, confidential phone calls with Eric are completely free.
Call 1-844-602-4242 for more information.
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